Written by: Muhammad Yazid

There was no surprise at the Woodlands stadium as 10-man Woodlands Wellington slumped to their third defeat of the season after a 2-0 loss to league leaders Brunei DPMM.

A penalty from Rodrigo Tosi and an Azwan Ali screamer in the first half were enough to seal all three points for the Bruneian outfit.

Woodlands also saw defender Walid Lounis dismissed after just 12 minutes of play.

The deadlock was broken in the 12th minute when an off-the-ball incident between Walid and Tosi in the penalty box saw the former receiving his marching orders, and the latter duly converted the resulting penalty by sending Yazid Yasin the wrong way.

The visitors then were a whisker away from doubling the advantage in the 25th minute when Tosi’s half-volley rocketed off the upright.

The reduction of a man affected Woodlands’ usual game, as Darren Stewart was forced to shift his players around in unusual positions.

The Rams tried to incorporate a style of sitting back and defending tight to keep the deficit as slender as possible, while looking for opportunities to hit DPMM on the break.

However, it was not successful as DPMM eventually increased the lead just before half-time.

Azwan Ali swiftly whizzed past Andy Ahmad to blast it from 20 yards out into the top corner, leaving Yazid with no chance of making a save.

The second half depicted a similar story to the first with Steve Kean’s side the more dominant of the two, as they went in search of a third goal.

Roy O’Donovan managed to beat Yazid after beating the offside trap but he curled his effort onto the crossbar in the 54th minute, much to the dismay of the away fans.

The current top-scorer was rewarded with another chance a minute later but saw his lobbed shot hit the roof of the net.

The rest of the game was pretty much scrappy as Woodlands stayed compact and squeezed the midfield, and did not allow the Wasps another attempt at goal.

The hosts’ only chance of the game came in the 61st minute when a good through ball by Taufiq Ghani was met by Moon Soon Ho.

Overpowering his marker in strength, the Korean drilled the ball towards goal but DPMM goalkeeper Wardun Yussof made a composed save to deny the forward with his legs.