Super Reds vs DPMM FC [0-0]

Dominance unrewarded as Super Reds held Gary Koh info@sleague.com An in-form Super Reds side saw their three-match winning streak come to a halt as they were surprisingly held to a goalless draw by DPMM FC in their league encounter at Yishun on Tuesday evening. The result capped a frustrating night for the Koreans as they were dominant throughout and did everything right except finding the back of the net. Their inability to score meant they stayed fifth in the league standings while the visitors escaped with a barely-deserved point to remain third behind joint pacesetters SAFFC and Gombak United. The hosts came into the match seeking their fourth straight win as they looked to build on their winning momentum after a slow start to the season. They were without forward Park Kang Jin, who was serving his one-match ban after receiving two yellows in their 3-1 victory over Gombak last week. Meanwhile DPMM coach Vjeran Simunic made one minor tweak to his regular starting lineup as he sought to end a two-match losing run in Singapore. Former Super Reds star Oh Ddog Yi, making his first visit to Yishun since his transfer to his present employers in February, returned to form a three-man forward line with Algerian Abdel Hamid Berguiga and Shahrazen Said while midfielder Azwan Salleh was dropped to the bench. If it was to provide a repeat of their 2-1 win in Brunei back in March, the switch had limited effect for them as the Super Reds dominated the game from the first whistle. They came close to breaking the deadlock after just seven minutes, when Kim Tae Young freed Choi Dong Soo on the right, only for DPMM goalkeeper Wardun Yussof to rush out and clear before further damage could be done. Back Dae Hyuen was then denied by Bruneian centreback Yusof Salleh on 20 minutes after he was fed through the visiting defence by Yun Bo Young. He could have put his name on the scoresheet four minutes later when he dived towards skipper Yu Hyun Koo’s indirect free kick. His header was too high to trouble the visitors though. DPMM were often left chasing shadows as the Super Reds controlled possession and toyed with them all over the pitch. In the few forays they had on the other half, their crosses and passes into the final third rarely troubled the Koreans. The game had been billed as a match-up between last year’s top foreign side and the team seeking to replicate their results, but as the game unfolded, it became increasingly clear that it was a no-contest where that was concerned. As the Wasps struggled to cope with the hosts’ technical and tactical superiority, they resorted to the hard play they were reputed for, bringing down a red shirt at every opportunity in their bid to stop the juggernaut. Their efforts had referee Abdul Malik Bashir dish out five yellow cards to them in the first 45 minutes as the tension mounted rapidly between both sides. It was his decisive action to haul Yun away that prevented an all-out brawl in added time, when the Super Reds forward appeared to be close to coming to blows with Simunic after a harsh exchange of words that followed a foul near the DPMM bench. The half-time interval cooled tempers as fewer fouls and bookings were issued by the match official in the second half. As was the case in the first half, the Bears dominated the next 45 minutes, often camping in the DPMM half in search for the elusive goal. With each passing minute, the situation became more desperate for DPMM as they went into overdrive in defence with their last-ditch tackles, shirt-tugs and blocks to prevent the ball from entering the net. There was also very little productivity in attack to make Super Reds sweat. Oh endured a quiet outing in his return before he was substituted towards the end of the match. Yet for all their possession and creativity, the hosts just could not find the final touch to complete the good work they were showing from defence to attack. No Korean was present to punish Wardun just after the hour mark when the Brunei national custodian dropped a Park Chul Hyung left cross, allowing him to dive to catch the ball the second time before anyone could react in the box. Even when they had the chance to shoot past the tiring Bruneians, they scuffed them to the agony of the Yishun faithful. Yu epitomized the frustrating moments in attack when he blasted over a Kim Shin Yui pass in the box in the 68th minute. Substitute Song Wang Suk then saw his volley off Wardun’s poor punch blaze over and wide with less than three minutes to go. Further efforts from Park and Choi in injury time also went begging as they had to be content with a point. Super Reds coach Jeon Kyeong Joon felt his team’s main problem lay beyond their profligacy in goal. “It is not really about the shooting (that was the problem), but how they moved from the middle to the final third that was not always good,” he said. Apart from the weakness, he was pleased with what he saw in his men. “Tonight they really did well. They pushed hard and did what they had prepared for,” he added. “They showed they wanted to win, but perhaps they overdid it and pushed themselves too much.” Meanwhile, DPMM coach Simunic put on a strong front as he defended his team’s negative performance to hold for a draw. “I am very satisfied we got a point, it is like a win for us. My players have big marks from me because they worked hard to get the result like I wanted,” he said. “We respect Super Reds, they have much better quality than every other opponent in the league and some of the players, number 8 (Yu), number 10 (Kim Yoon Sik) and number 22 (Park Han Seok), all can play in Europe. They should try.” He then blasted the match officials for what he alleged as a plot to deny his side credit for their efforts. “The referee is 70 percent against us tonight. He gave us more yellow cards, more fouls, and was very bad,” he continued. “Last five games we are very unlucky against the referee. Maybe they have a bad day, but who knows what they were doing. “Maybe someday somebody can stop DPMM because we are up there, but here I don’t know who else can take points from us.”