|
|
| No complaints from Shrestha |
 |
| Nepal Police Club head coach Birat Krishna Shrestha (right) admitted his side were out-played by the defending champions. |
BISHKEK - Nepal Police Club coach Birat Krishna Shrestha had no complaints after last year’s AFC President’s Cup finalists suffered a semi-final defeat by two-time defending champions Dordoi Dynamo on Friday.
Nepal Police Club struggled to cope with the home side’s direct style in the first half and Dordoi deservedly led at the break courtesy of David Tetteh’s strike.
After the break captain Ramesh Budhathoki should have pulled his side level but headed over unmarked from the close range after meeting Bhola Nath Silwal’s corner.
Mirlan Murzaev added Dordoi’s second shortly after and despite Anant Raj Thapa pulling a goal back for Nepal, Tetteh rounded off a late counterattack to seal the win as Nepal pushed for an equaliser.
“We struggled to maintain our performance. The home crowd also brought pressure on us; even my players struggled to control the ball. There were so many misunderstandings and miscommunications, we could not even pass well and could not hold the ball,” said the Nepal Police Club coach.
“Over the 90 minutes we could only control the game for a few minutes at a time, that is the main reason why we didn’t win. We could not play our game.”
Dordoi will bid for a third straight President’s Cup crown on Sunday against Regar-TadAZ after the Tajikistan champions recorded a 4-3 extra time win over Turkmenistan’s Ashgabat.
But Shrestha agreed with opposite number Sergey Dvoryankov that Dordoi will need to improve to succeed in front of their own fans at the weekend.
“The Dordoi team is very similar to last time. Their strikers were a little bit faster than last time,” he added.
“Dordoi played better than us, but that will not be good enough in the final as it was because of our poor performance they were allowed to control the game.”
|
|
