There was to be no new manager bounce for Selangor in their matchday nine Malaysia Super League encounter against UiTM FC.
There was to be no new manager bounce for Selangor in their matchday nine Malaysia Super League encounter against UiTM FC on Saturday.
The team that had earlier this week sacked head coach B. Satiananthan for poor performances finished the first half with a comfortable 2-0 lead through goals by Ifedayo Olusegun and Sandro da Silva, but a disastrous start to the second half saw them concede three goals to the in-form university side. Only a final-gasp handball penalty spared the blushes for the Red Giants, with Olusegun equalising from the spot.
Selangor technical director and interim head coach Michael Feichtenbeiner explained after the match that things could have gone much better for his charges had they been able to maintain their first half performance.
Editors’ Picks
- Chelsea fans expected improvement after £220m spending spree – not more farcical defending
- ‘We got away with one’ – Man Utd pulled off the biggest heist in Premier League history at Brighton
- What have Barcelona done? Simeone & Suarez could make life hell for everyone in La Liga
- Liam Delap: Have Man City unearthed their very own Haaland?
“I’m not happy with the draw because we had expected to win. In the first half my players did well, dominated the game and created chances, which is not easy against a UiTM that had conceded only one goal after the [post-lockdown] league resumption.
“But after the break we lost our shape a little bit and were affected their dangerous set-pieces, and the 15 minutes period after halftime was a disaster. But one good thing was that the players’ kept their morale up and persevered, which helped them equalise at the last minute.
“UiTM had no chances at all in the first half, but in the second, they pulled one back with their very first corner and we started losing focus. My team had been conceding a lot of goals in the past, so they may have been affected by the quick second half goal. We will talk about and work on this for the coming matches because we need to be more stable in defence.
“We need and want to be able to play like we did in the first half, but for throughout the 90 minutes. Even today, after conceding three goals, we slowly got back in the game, pressured [the opponents] thanks to the new substitutions,” he said
Asked by a reporter whether he is confident of winning their last two league matches, against relegation-threatened PDRM FA and Felda United, the German responded in the affirmative.
“We have to work so that we can dominate the match for the 90 minutes and this needs training, training, training, and we want to win against PDRM next week, for sure.
“I am confident of winning the coming matches. Tonight we scored three times against a team that had conceded only one goal in their previous four matches (UiTM have actually conceded two goals). Offence-wise, we were the much-better team especially in the first half. I’m confident we can win with our current players,” explained Feichtenbeiner.
