Hougang United vs Brunei DPMM

(23 September, Saturday, 7.30pm, Hougang Stadium)

Written by: Rashid Sulaiman

Hougang United will look to register back-to-back victories against Brunei DPMM when the two face off again in the Great Eastern-Hyundai S.League at Hougang Stadium on Saturday night.

The two teams met four days ago in Bandar Seri Begawan with Hougang cruising to a 4-1 win over DPMM. Japanese striker Fumiya Kogure scored a hat-trick while Iqbal Hussain scored the other goal for the visitors.

Rafael Ramazotti netted the consolation goal for the Bruneians as Steve Kean’s side slumped to their 14th loss of the campaign.

It was the Cheetahs’ first win over the Wasps in all competitions since their victory in the 2015 League Cup competition.

Philippe Aw’s side are currently sixth in the table on 26 points while Kean’s charges are two position below on five points with only a win and two draws to their name this season.

With the league approaching the end, both sides will be keen to chalk up maximum points and move up the standings.

But if DPMM are to have any chance of coming away with even a point, they have to keep it tight in defence and make their chances count in the final third.

“In the second half, we changed the system and brought on substitutes. I thought we got a grip of the game,” said Kean after their previous match against Hougang.

“When it got to 2-1 we were on the ascendancy but we gave the third goal away which was basically their first cross. We got to deal with it better as that goal then takes the wind out of our sails and gave them a massive lift after we just scored,” added the DPMM head coach.

For Aw, his side did well to tame DPMM’s lanky forward for most of the match and had goalkeeper Khairulhin Khalid to thank for restricting Kean’s team to just one goal.

Ramazotti and co had several chances in the but they were left frustrated as Khairulhin thwarted shots after shots that came his way.

‘We started well and the early goal settled us down. We know Ramazotti is very good in the air but we managed to keep him quiet most parts of the game,” said Aw.

“At the start of the second half, we had many chances on the break to finish it 3-0, 4-0 but we didn’t and kept DPMM alive.

“Ramazotti is a good player and scored a good goal but thankfully within a minute we scored the third and it gave us confidence. If it stayed 2-1 for a longer time it would have given us problems,” explained the Hougang head coach.

Both sides will be missing a player through suspension as Hougang’s Antoine Viterale was shown the red card in Bandar Seri Begawan while Azwan Ali will miss out after accumulating a fourth yellow card in the S.League.

Suspensions: Antoine Viterale (Hougang United); Azwan Ali Rahman (Brunei DPMM)

Hougang United – WLLWW

19/09/17 Brunei DPMM 1-4 Hougang United

15/09/17 Hougang United 2-1 Garena Young Lions

09/09/17 Tampines Rovers 5-1 Hougang United

18/08/17 Hougang United 0-1 Geylang International

14/08/17 Nagaworld FC 0-4 Hougang United (RHB Singapore Cup)

Brunei DPMM – LDLLL

19/09/17 Brunei DPMM 1-4 Hougang United

16/09/17 Brunei DPMM 0-1 Albirex Niigata (S)

08/09/17 Brunei DPMM 1-4 Home United

21/08/17 Balestier Khalsa 2-2 Brunei DPMM

16/08/17 Home United 3-1 Brunei DPMM (RHB Singapore Cup)

Head to Head (S.League)

19/09/17 Brunei DPMM 1-4 Hougang United

02/04/17 Brunei DPMM 2-0 Hougang United

26/08/16 Hougang United 1-2 Brunei DPMM

14/05/16 Brunei DPMM 3-2 Hougang United

04/03/16 Hougang United 0-0 Brunei DPMM