Hazzuwan Halim celebrates after scoring for Geylang International, 2 July 2022

 

SINGAPORE, 6 JULY 2022 – The frontrunners continued to pull away in the AIA Singapore Premier League (SPL) with leaders Lion City Sailors walloping Tanjong Pagar United, while Albirex Niigata (S) edged Tampines Rovers to remain six points behind. Elsewhere, Geylang International continued their renaissance by beating Balestier Khalsa while Hougang United marked a triumphant return to domestic football by demolishing Young Lions. We recap all the action below…

 

Eagles on the rise
Balestier 0-2 Geylang | Toa Payoh | 2 July
Šime Žužul pen. 48′, Hazzuwan Halim 78′

 

Former players came back to haunt Balestier as Žužul netted from the spot after Madhu Mohana was penalised for handball, before Hazzuwan sealed the three points with a powerful finish off Umar Akhbar’s delightful through ball.

 

Facts

• Geylang pulled off back-to-back wins for the first time since August 2021 – also against Balestier and Tanjong Pagar.
• Geylang won an away game for the first time in 10 matches since August 2021.
• Geylang kept two clean sheets in a row for the first time since September 2017.
• Geylang’s Zaiful Nizam kept two straight shutouts for the first time since March 2019.
• Balestier have now lost six out of their last seven SPL matches.
• Hazzuwan scored his 30th SPL goal.

Balestier: Hairul Syirhan (GK), Darren Teh (C) (Daniel Goh 75’), Madhu Mohana, Delwinder Singh, Ensar Brunčević, Ho Wai Loon (Naufal Azman 75’), Akmal Azman (Ammirul Emmran 70’), Ryoya Taniguchi, Kuraba Kondo, Ignatius Ang, Shuhei Hoshino.
Unused subs: Rudy Khairullah (GK), Keshav Kumar, Aarish Kumar, Amer Hakeem, Asshukrie Wahid, Aidil Johari.

Geylang: Zaiful Nizam (GK) (C), Ilhan Noor (Ahmad Syahir 75’), Rio Sakuma, Faizal Roslan, Tajeli Salamat, Joshua Pereira, Takahiro Tezuka, Umar Akhbar, Hazzuwan Halim (Khairul Hairie 90’+3), Vincent Bezecourt, Šime Žužul.
Unused subs: Zulfairuuz Rudy (GK), Hafiz Ahmad (GK), Danish Siregar, Danish Haziq, Furqan Raoff.

 

Six for Sailors again
Tanjong Pagar 0-6 Sailors | Jurong East | 3 July
Maxime Lestienne 3′, Gabriel Quak 15′, 54′, Hariss Harun 18′, Diego Lopes 52′, 56′

 

Lestienne slotted home Hafiz Nor’s deep cross and teed up Quak for a stunning counter-attack goal, before Hariss’ shot from outside the area was deflected in as the Sailors opened up a three-goal lead early on. There was no letting up after the break as Lopes found himself the beneficiary of another two brilliant assists from Lestienne; his brace sandwiched Quak’s second as the champions put six past the Jaguars for a second time in as many encounters this season.

 

Facts

• The Sailors have now scored at least four goals in seven out of their last 10 SPL matches.
• Lestienne scored and assisted in a match for a second straight match – he has done so for a league-best five times this season.
• Lestienne notched a hat-trick of assists for the second time this season; he has a total of 11 assists, as many as last season’s chart-topper, Armin Bošnjak.
• Hariss scored more than one goal in a season for the first time since 2011 when he notched three for the Young Lions.
• Lopes has scored braces in both wins against Tanjong Pagar this season.
• Quak scored his first brace since October 2021 in a 4-1 win over Balestier.
• Bill Mamadou made his Sailors debut.
• Sailors’ Hassan Sunny kept his sixth clean sheet of the season; it is one more than his tally of five from last season.

Tanjong Pagar: Zharfan Rohaizad (GK), Emmeric Ong, Raihan Rahman, Faritz Hameed (C), Akram Azman (Mirko Šugić 51’), Fathullah Rahmat (Khairul Amri 73’), Rusyaidi Salime (Hadiputradila Saswadimata 89’), Faizal Raffi (Blake Ricciuto 46’), Aqhari Abdullah, Shodai Nishikawa, Syukri Bashir (Reo Nishiguchi 46’).
Unused subs: Fashah Iskandar (GK), Daniel Bennett, Khairul Nizam, Naufal Ilham.

Sailors: Hassan Sunny (GK), Hafiz Nor, Amirul Adli (Bill Mamadou 83’), Pedro Henrique, Nur Adam Abdullah, Hariss Harun (C), Shahdan Sulaiman, Gabriel Quak (Haiqal Pashia 62’), Diego Lopes (Anaqi Ismit 83’), Maxime Lestienne (Adam Swandi 76’), Song Uiyoung (Kim Shin-wook 62’).
Unused subs: Izwan Mahbud (GK), Iqram Rifqi, Hami Syahin, Saifullah Akbar.

 

Swans best Stags again
Albirex 3-2 Tampines | Jurong East | 4 July
Kodai Tanaka 14′, Ilhan Fandi 60′, Jun Kobayashi 68′ | Boris Kopitović 61′, pen. 85′

 

Tanaka’s opportunistic header and Ilhan’s exquisite chip put Albirex two up, but Kopitović squeezed in one in at the near post to halve the deficit. Kobayashi restored the White Swans’ two-goal lead with a header off Masaya Idetsu’s corner, before Kopitović pulled another back from the spot but it proved to be too little too late for the Stags.

 

Facts

• Tampines have now failed to beat Albirex in their last five meetings.
• Albirex notched a sixth straight win and are now unbeaten in their last 12 matches.
• Eight of Tanaka’s 14 goals this season have come from headers.
• Ilhan has three goals in four Albirex appearances this season – he has in fact scored five times in his last six league outings.
• Idetsu made his fourth assist from a corner this season; Albirex have scored six times from corners, the most in the league.
• Kopitović scored his 40th SPL goal.
• Kopitović has now scored nine times in his last six outings against Albirex.

Albirex: Takahiro Koga (GK), Jun Kobayashi (C), Reo Kunimoto, Keito Hariya, Daichi Omori, Masaya Idetsu, Kumpei Kakuta, Kan Kobayashi, Masahiro Sugita, Ilhan Fandi (Kanato Fukazawa 73’), Kodai Tanaka.
Unused subs: Hyrulnizam Juma’at (GK), Tatsuya Sambongi, Mahiro Takahashi, Tsubasa Kawanishi, Fairoz Hasan, Shota Ochiai, Zamani Zamri, Yoshiki Matsuura.

Tampines: Syazwan Buhari (GK), Adam Reefdy (Irfan Najeeb 64’), Shuya Yamashita, Ryaan Sanizal, Amirul Haikal (Irwan Shah 64’), Kyoga Nakamura, Firdaus Kasman (Syed Firdaus Hassan 81’), Taufik Suparno, Yasir Hanapi (C), Christopher van Huizen, Boris Kopitović.
Unused subs: Danial Iliya (GK), Iman Hakim, Shameer Aziq, Marc Ryan Tan, Ethan Pinto, Andrew Aw.

 

Cheetahs make winning return to league action
Young Lions 0-4 Hougang | Jalan Besar | 5 July
Anders Aplin 36′, Sahil Suhaimi 70′, Amy Recha 74′, Shawal Anuar 80′

 

Aplin’s header off Zulfahmi Arifin’s free-kick gave Hougang the advantage at the break, before Sahil curled in a brilliant first-time finish off Shawal’s low cross. Amy then lashed one in from outside the area, before Shawal exchanged passes with Sahil and coolly finished from a tight angle to complete a resounding win for the Cheetahs.

 

Facts

• Hougang won for the first time in 11 away matches since August 2021 when they also defeated Young Lions 1-0.
• Young Lions conceded for a 47th straight SPL match and are now win-less in their last six league outings.
• Young Lions have conceded five goals from indirect free-kicks this season – at least three more than any other team.
• Hougang led at half-time for the first time this season.
• Two of Aplin’s five career league goals have come against Young Lions.
• Amy scored his 35th SPL goal – that was also his first league goal from open play since October 2021 in Geylang’s 3-0 win over Balestier.
• Sahil and Shawal both scored and assisted – each other – in this match.
• Hougang’s Jordan Vestering made his first SPL appearance since March 2020 in a 2-2 draw against Balestier.
• Young Lions’ Dylan Pereira made his first SPL start since May 2021 in a 4-0 loss to Tampines.
• Hougang’s Idraki Adnan made his first appearance since May 2021 in a 3-2 win over Tampines.

Young Lions: Dylan Pereira (GK), Jordan Emaviwe (Elijah Lim 77’), Syed Akmal, Harhys Stewart, Arshad Shamim, Rezza Rezky (Nor Hakim 77’), Shah Shahiran (C), Jared Gallagher, Glenn Kweh, Abdul Rasaq (Syabil Hisham 55’), Zikos Chua (Joel Chew 63’).
Unused subs: Putra Anugerah (GK).

Hougang: Mukundan Maran (GK), Muhaimin Suhaimi (Kristijan Krajček 79’), Anders Aplin, Lionel Tan (C), Jordan Vestering, Zulfahmi Arifin (Fabian Kwok 89’), Kaishu Yamazaki (Farhan Zulkifli 79’), Amy Recha, Sahil Suhaimi, Shawal Anuar (Idraki Adnan 89’), Pedro Bortoluzo (Shahfiq Ghani 79’).
Unused subs: Aizil Yazid (GK), Hafiz Sujad, Afiq Noor, Amir Zalani.

 

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