Yee Chun Leong
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN
DPMM FC got their pre-season off to a good start after defeating 10-man Guangxi Pingguo Haliao 3-1 on Saturday night.
It was the first match in charge for new head coach Rui Capela Batista and he was delighted with the showing.
"We gave our best eventhough we only had (been together for) three weeks," said Batista in a post-match interview with BruSports News.
"The boys showed good organisation and commitment from the start and I'm appy with the players," he added.
When asked if he was disappointed not to keep a clean sheet, the DPMM FC coach replied: "What we can do is learn the hard way ahead of playing in the League."
The hosts had the best possible start after breaking the deadlock in the fifth minute.
A cross from the left was deflected off a Guangxi defender and onto the path of Gabriel Gama Da Silva.
The Brazilian then made no mistake to fire it home from 12 yards out at the Hassanal Bolkiah National Stadium in Berakas.
They doubled their lead within the opening minute of the second half.
Miguel Oliveira's backheel pass split the Guangxi defence allowing Azwan Ali Rahman through.
He then unleashed a left-footed shot in between three Guangxi defenders to make it 2-0.
DPMM FC got their third goal after Oliveira dispossessed Yi Xian Long in midfield.
The Portuguese forward then dribbled his way into the box before firing past Dong Yifan in between the Guangxi sticks.
The visitors were reduced to 10 men in the 67th minute after Hu Mingfei was brandished a red card for an elbow to the face of Oliveira.
Despite the man disadvantage, Guangxi were the team on the ascendency.
They piled on the pressure and got a goal back nine minutes from time through Wang Jingbin.
He towered to head to the far post past the outstretched arm of Kristijan Naumovski.
However, it proved to be a mere consolation for the China League One side.
