Written By: Dwayne James

Brunei DPMM coach Steve Kean hailed Paulo Sergio as a “match-winner” after the Portuguese forward created the first and netted the second in their 2-0 win over Harimau Muda in the Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League last night.

It was the third straight game that Sergio has found the back of the net since returning from a hamstring injury.

“I think he showed his quality in deadball situations. He whipped in a ball that cannot be defended,” said Kean.

“The goalkeeper couldn’t go down the line of the ball because it has got a lot of pace on it. He was also worried about players coming towards him for headers.

“It is a stunning effort. You can tell the crowd gets excited when you get this type of players on the ball. At the moment he is a match-winner for us,” added the Scotsman.

The victory created a four-point gap at the top of the table and Kean was delighted to pick up all three points despite not playing their best football.

“I think it was a great three points but it wasn’t the best we have ever played. Far from it,” said Kean.

“Sometimes you just have to be efficient in your game. We can play a lot better with the ball but credit to Harimau Muda as they had a lot of possession and kept attacking.

“I felt we managed our chances as there weren’t very many clear cut chances. I know we can play better but at this stage of the season it is about getting three points and a clean sheet like tonight is even better,” added the Scotsman.

Kean also hopes that the will be able to keep the momentum going heading into the final third of the season.

“We just got to keep going and get them clean sheets. We also need to keep away from any more silly suspensions and put ourselves in a really good position (to win the League),” said the former Blackburn Rovers manager.

On the other hand, Harimau Muda coach Razip Ismail thought they were the better team in the second half but never took their chances.

“I think my players put up a good fight. They played very hard. The only thing is that 2-0 made the difference between our opponents and us,” said Razip.

“We improved our game and were on top in the second half but the only thing is that we couldn’t convert our chances.

“We couldn’t score goals while they scored from the one or two chances they had,” he added.

“We have another away and hard game coming up. I hope the players will stay focused and try to get at least one points from the next game,” concluded Razip.