PETALING JAYA: Melaka’s last two defeats in the Super League were a bitter pill to swallow for coach E. Elavarasan, after his side conceded late goals.
Considered minnows in the top flight, the Mousedeer were beaten 3-2 by Selangor on Sept 6 before suffering a similar fate against Kuching City, going down 2-1 on Saturday.
“We’re disappointed because we conceded a last-minute goal. This is the second time it has happened after the Selangor match. This is something we need to fix as quickly as possible if we want to go far in the league,” said Elavarasan.
The coach acknowledged that the level of competition in the league has risen sharply this season, making points harder to come by.
“All the teams have improved compared to last season. For games like against Kuching City, even a single point would have been considered a good result as we were facing a side with quality and depth,” he said.
Elavarasan felt his side lost their discipline at the wrong moment after pulling level against Kuching City.
“When playing against a solid, experienced side, how you control the pressure is crucial.
‘‘Once we got the equaliser, we should have focused more on our defence, especially in the closing minutes. Losing focus at the end was costly,” he said.
He also pointed to Melaka’s forward play, admitting his side were too hurried in their pursuit of a winner although he credited Do Dong-hyun’s dead-ball delivery for their goal.
“We were rushing too much and were too frantic to score. Kuching organised their defence very well, making it hard for us to penetrate. We had to rely on individual abilities to draw fouls, and fortunately, Do (Dong-hyun) executed the free-kick brilliantly after (Kpah) Sherman was fouled,” he said.
With the league set for a break, Elavarasan is eyeing the layoff as a chance to regroup and sharpen his side ahead of their return.
“Any team will use these two or three weeks to prepare and improve, and we will do the same,” he added.
We played against the current top three teams, which is good experience, but dropping points against Selangor and Kuching late on feels like a huge waste. We are targeting more wins right after the break.
Melaka are ninth in the standings with three points from four matches, with their only win so far coming against Negri Sembilan (2-1).
