Set-piece goals do the trick in BG Tampines Rovers’ five-star performance

SINGAPORE – It has been six years since Fahrudin Mustafic hung up his football boots, but the former BG Tampines Rovers centre-back and midfielder is still playing a crucial role in the Stags’ attack.

The 43-year-old assistant coach, who is responsible for coming up with the team’s set-piece strategies, received the plaudits after their 5-1 win over Hougang United on June 30 at the Jalan Besar Stadium, where right-back Irfan Najeeb netted twice from dead balls.

The result helped Tampines extend their unbeaten start to the Singapore Premier League (SPL) season to five matches as they rose to second with 13 points, level with league leaders Lion City Sailors but behind on goal difference.

The Cheetahs, meanwhile, are still winless and are rooted to the bottom of the nine-team league.

Irfan’s first goal came from a Faris Ramli corner, while his second was off a Yasir Hanapi free kick.

The 24-year-old said: “My first goal was solely based on what we practised during our training session yesterday.

“Credit to Farra, he’s the one who tells everyone how to attack set pieces.”

Coach Gavin Lee agreed, saying: “He’s responsible for designing them and credit goes to him for helping the team...

“We do a lot of work on that, but at the same time, it’s a team effort.”

These were not Tampines’s first goals from dead balls this season, with defender Milos Zlatkovic also scoring from a corner kick in a 4-4 draw with Geylang International on May 17.

When approached, Mustafic said: “All credit goes to the players, as coaches we just try to prepare them the best that we can.

“Yes, we took a lot of time on the training ground practising set plays, and it’s nice to see them deliver on that on game day.”

The Stags took the lead after 10 minutes when Boris Kopitovic fired a low ball across goal from the right and Glenn Kweh was on hand to guide it home.

Dejan Racic equalised for Hougang 13 minutes later when he applied the finishing touch to Stjepan Plazonja’s cross.

Tampines came out of half-time firing on all cylinders and restored their lead in the 46th minute after the ball fell kindly inside the box to an unmarked Faris, who made no mistake.

It was 3-1 eight minutes later when Faris’ corner found Irfan, whose header looped over substitute goalkeeper Kenji Rusydi’s outstretched arm.

Kopitovic joined in on the act in the 68th minute, finishing off a flowing team move. Yasir’s free-kick was then met by Irfan’s diving header in the 81st minute.

Irfan, who is 1.78m, said there was a different strategy for his second goal, adding: “We know Ensar Bruncevic is their tallest guy (1.96m) and we discussed that we just need to avoid him, and that’s what we did.”

Cheetahs coach Marko Kraljevic was left fuming after his side’s lapses in defending. He said: “This is a professional game, we shouldn’t concede twice from set pieces.”

Irfan last scored twice in one season in 2018, and he was glad to record a brace this time round.

“I don’t usually get high up the pitch much, so I have to take my chances,” he said.

Analysis

While the first half was evenly contested, Tampines capitalised on lacklustre defending at the start of the second half and never looked back. Their forward passing and switches overwhelmed the Cheetahs, who could not track their opponents well and allowed the Stags to attack freely.