All players must take responsibility for the defeat - Cheng Hoe

SELANGOR FC coach Tan Cheng Hoe could not hide the disappointment after the Red Giants lost 1-2 to PDRM FC in the second leg of the 2023 Malaysia Cup round of 16 at Petaling Jaya on Saturday.

However, the 55-year-old coach was relieved that Selangor FC made it to the quarterfinals after winning the aggregate 5-3 after a comfortable 4-1 victory in the first leg.

As a result, Cheng Hoe urges the players to accept responsibility for the defeat and reminds them that they must always be prepared to confront any team.

"All players must accept responsibility for this defeat. A pretty disappointing match, not only for the team, and I believe everyone has to take responsibility.

“ What's important is that we qualify for the next round.

"I hope that after this, the players will realise that any team we face, we have to be mentally and physically prepared because in this match, we saw that PDRM physically were better than us," he said at a post-match press conference.

In the game, Selangor FC scored first through Yohandry Orozco in the 25th minute, but The Cops' squad equalised seven minutes later with Nabil Latpi's goal.

The two sides went toe-to-toe in the second half, but PDRM was fortunate to score the game-winning goal at the end thanks to Selangor's defensive error, Harith Haiqal, who put the ball into his own net.

“We scored the first goal, but we fail to gain control of the game.

"That's why we conceded a goal in the final few minutes of the game, when we were once again unable to control the ball. PDRM took advantage of this and scored on us.

“I think every match is a lesson for us, we have to improve our performance against Kelantan FC (Super League) later,” Cheng Hoe added.