Be patient, Khan tells Suva fans
Coach Intiaz Khan has asked for patience after his Suva team narrowly beat a determined Nasinu 3-2 in the Vodafone Premier League yesterday.
A goal each from Gagame Feni, Anare Apenisa and Shahil Dave secured Suva a crucial victory after successive losses to Tavua and Ba. It was anything but an easy victory for Suva though, with Nasinu taking the capital city side to wire at the ANZ Stadium.
Nasinu scored twice through Jone Naraba and Semi Matalau but were unlucky to concede late on.
The win also eased the pressure on Khan who only had a single victory to his name prior to this match since becoming head coach.
His counterpart Nathan Shivam refused to speak to the media after the match, an indication of the emotions involved with Nasinu’s late loss.
Solomon Islander Feni gave Suva the lead early in the first half after a smart pass from new signing Iosefo Verevou created space for the striker.
Verevou was the focal point to most of Suva’s attacking play, accurately spraying passes from midfield for wingers Feni and Anare Apenisa to chase.
Naraba equalised for Nasinu 15 minutes later, picking up from where he left off against Labasa with another goal this week. The goal came after an impressive run by Leone Damudamu which unsettled the Suva defence, clearing the way for Naraba to place the ball past goalkeeper Simione Tamanisau. Suva tried chipping away at their opponents in the first half with sustained pressure from midfield, while Nasinu relied on the counterattack.
Matalau missed a great chance mid-way in the first half after Suva failed to deal with yet another counter attack.
One on one against Tamanisau, Matalau dribbled past the goalkeeper but failed to beat a retreating Remueru Tekiate who defended the situation well.
Suva then took the lead through Apenisa who converted a brilliantly judged Verevou pass beating Nasinu goalkeeper Alzaar Alam with a driven shot from the right. The goal angered Shivam, who urged the Nasinu defenders to close down the Suva attackers quicker.
Suva’s defence began making crucial mistakes in second half and Matalau happily obliged, drawing Nasinu level again in the 50th minute.
The match seemed to be heading to a draw until substitute Dave freed himself to unleash a powerful shot past Azaam to give Suva the lead.
The win leaves Suva on 3rd place with 6 points after four matches, while Nasinu dropped to 7th with three points in as many games.
COMMENTS
Suva coach Intiaz Khan said: “It was a crucial three points but I’m still unhappy with a few things like the mindset of the players. The fans should judge my players after another two games because only now is the team starting to gel. The players are not playing as a team at the moment so I want to fix that training.
“On a personal level, I am happy to get my second win as coach although there has been a lot of pressure.” Nasinu defender Joeli Ranitu said: “We worked very hard but the team lost concentration at a crucial time and Suva punished us. “But the team is shaping up well and we are confident of doing well this season.”