Formation: 4-1-3-2
GK: Shahril Jantan
DF: Shaiful Esah, Bah Mamadou, Daniel Bennett, Hafiz Osman
MF: Noh Rahman, Rhysh Roshan Rai, Ivan Jerkovic, Erwan Gunawan
FW: Fazrul Nawaz, Mislav Karoglan
Down to technical reviewing, SAF has the disadvantage of having Akiyoshi suspended. Moreover, the flanks of SAF is drastically weakened. The flanks has been the core of the attacking force and for that match, they have to rely on the central offense.
RRR is on the left and Erwan is on the right wing. RRR is built for a defensive role of midfield, taken by Noh Rahman, down the middle but is called to the wing which is the wrong option right from the start. Erwan is good but in my opinion lacks of experience and agility; his right wing is seldom played throughout the match.
Mislav was a little too selfish during the game but as usual, his flicks are ever so deadly to set up an attacking move. The 2 defensive towers, Daniel and Bah, were very strong at the back with only minor hiccups. At the last 20 minutes, its clear Richard Bok wanted to secure the 1-0 lead by bringing in Hammond for RRR, building a 5 defenders formation and Ruzaini to come in for Erwan with the same role of operating down the flank. Once the final substitution was made for Syaiful Iskandar to come in for Fazrul Nawaz, majority of the players were in their own half playing possessively.
The goal from Mislav stood throughout 44 minutes with many chances of equalizing as well as extending. His sharp turn and a snapshot nailed the only goal of the game. The man of the match was Bah Mamadou which in my opinion deserves the award as much as Mislav does.
Next game will be on June 16th against Phnom Penh in the RHB Singapore Cup KO round.