Time to be ruthless
Zainal wants Melaka to be sharper in front of the goal
PETALING JAYA: Melaka coach Zainal Abidin Hassan wants his men to show no mercy to their opponents.
Two quick goals from Darko Markovic in the 14th minute and Nazrin Nawi in the 16th minute earned Melaka a win over basement side Kuala Lumpur in the Super League match at the Hang Jebat Stadium on Sunday.
But Zainal is unhappy that his men are not ruthless in front of goal in a match they dominated.
“We achieved our mission to get full points
after we dropped points against Pahang and Johor Darul Ta’zim. This win enables us to stay close with the leaders,” said the former international.
“We played well in the first-half before fading towards the break.
“Thankfully in the second-half we were very disciplined.
“I’m a bit unhappy that we wasted goal-scoring chances and this is something we need to fix fast.
“We were lucky to have the early goals, I’m confident the players can do much better as they are improving with every game.”
Melaka are now fourth in the 12-team standings with 10 points and will take on sixth-placed Terengganu away on Saturday.
The team with former internationals Safiq Rahim, Shukor Adan and Razman Roslan have combined well with the imports – Liridon Krasniqi, Patrick Reichelt and Darko Markovic.
“It will be tough to play in Kuala Terengganu. We need to remain calm and disciplined because we want to be among the top four,” added Zainal.
“Most of the players have been together for just four months but in that short time they are playing their roles well and it looks positive for the team at this stage.”