They did not deserve to win

Tanjong Pagar United defeated DPMM Brunei 1-0 but opposite number Vjeran Simunic believed the Queenstown side did not deserve to win as he felt his side dominate proceeding.

"They are a good team, but didn't deserve to win," Simunic managed to muster after a momentary pause to collect his thoughts.

"If you look back at the game, DPMM had six or seven chances and apart from the goal, Tanjong Pagar had none.

The Croatian explained that his decision to bring off Najib Tarif early on in the first half was purely tactical, adding that Tales dos Santos brought a different dimension to the game.

"They have three very experienced strikers, so with [Dos] Santos, we brought more aggression to the game," the 57-year-old said.

"Santos stopped Zerka, [Kamel] Ramdani and [Ismael] Benahmed and in the second half, with Santos up front, we were more attacking.

"Tanjong Pagar looked good in the opening 10 minutes, and I think we stumbled after we conceded the opening goal."