Albirex Niigata (S) players celebrating a goal against Lion City Sailors, 21 May 2023.

 

SINGAPORE, 18 JULY 2023 – It is setting up to be a two-horse race in the AIA Singapore Premier League with Albirex Niigata (S) downing Lion City Sailors to remain top based on goal difference, while Tampines Rovers are breathing down their necks after a hard-fought win over Young Lions to ensure they remain level on points with the White Swans. Elsewhere, Balestier Khalsa strengthened their hold on fourth place after edging Brunei DPMM while Geylang International lost further ground after being held by Tanjong Pagar United. We recap all the action below…

 

Stags continue to believe

Young Lions 2-3 Tampines | Jalan Besar | 15 July   

Syahadat Masnawi 41’, Fairuz Fazli 71’ | Yasir Hanapi 18’, 53’, Faris Ramli 62’

 

After Joel Chew teed up Yasir for a thumping effort in off the post to put Tampines ahead, Syahadat poked in a rebound to pull the Young Lions level. Despite custodian Syazwan Buhari’s dismissal, the Stags pulled two goals ahead through Yasir’s deflected shot and Faris poking home Boris Kopitović’s low cross. The home side did pull one back through Fairuz’s sizzling near-post shot, but Tampines held out for a crucial victory.

Facts

• Young Lions have now lost 10 straight matches and conceded in 82 straight SPL outings.
• Tampines are still the only team yet to lose an away match this season and are now unbeaten in their last 10 matches.
• Yasir netted his first brace since April 2021 – also against Young Lions in a 7-0 win for Tampines.
• Syahadat and Fairuz scored their first-ever SPL goals.
• Joel collected his ninth assist of the season – he is now the league’s third-highest assister behind Sailors’ duo of Diego Lopes and Maxime Lestienne.

Young Lions: Aizil Yazid (GK), Fairuz Fazli, Jun Kobayashi, Kieran Teo, Harith Kanadi, Jared Gallagher, Kan Kobayashi, Syafi’ie Redzuan, Farhan Zulkifli, Syahadat Masnawi (Iman Hakim 61’), Amiruldin Asraf (Aqil Yazid 85’).

Unused subs: Prathip Ekamparam (GK), Ryan Praveen, Ikram Mikhail, Loo Kai Sheng, Danish Haqimi, Haziq Kamarudin.

Tampines: Syazwan Buhari (GK), Irfan Najeeb, Shuya Yamashita, Shah Shahiran, Glenn Kweh (Ryaan Sanizal 87’), Syed Firdaus Hassan (Ridhuan Barudin 51’), Joel Chew (Firdaus Kasman 75’), Taufik Suparno (Saifullah Akbar 46’), Yasir Hanapi (C) (Rezza Rezky 87’), Faris Ramli, Boris Kopitović.

Unused subs: Taras Goh, Jovan Ang, Kegan Phang, Adam Reefdy.

Red Card – Syazwan Buhari (Tampines) 48’

 

Tampines Rovers’ Joel Chew in action against Hougang United, 6 July 2023.

 

A thrilling draw

Tanjong Pagar 2-2 Geylang | Jurong East | 15 July

Akram Azman 11’, Naqiuddin Eunos 89’ | Yushi Yamaya 35’, Takahiro Tezuka 57’

 

A see-saw affair saw Akram nodding in Azim Akbar’s cross to put Tanjong Pagar in front, but Geylang equalised with Yamaya arrowing home a header off Arshad Shamim’s right-wing cross. The Eagles then went 2-1 up with Tezuka slamming home a firm finish in the area, but the Jaguars found a late leveller through Naqiuddin’s stunner from the edge of the area that left Rudy Khairullah grasping at thin air.

Facts

• Akram scored his first-ever SPL goal.
• All three Azman brothers started this game – Tanjong Pagar’s Akram and Geylang’s Akmal and Naufal.
• Naqiuddin netted just his second-ever professional goal – his first came in August 2019 in Young Lions’ 1-1 draw with DPMM. Both came from outside the box.
• Arshad got his first assist since October 2022 in Young Lions’ 5-3 loss to Hougang.
• Rudy started his first game since October 2022 in Balestier’s 4-1 defeat to Hougang.

Tanjong Pagar: Fashah Iskandar (GK), Naqiuddin Eunos, Shakir Hamzah, Raihan Rahman (Khairul Hairie 81’), Faizal Roslan, Tajeli Salamat, Akram Azman (C) (Khairul Amri 68’), Azim Akbar (Zulfadhmi Suzliman 68’), Blake Ricciuto, Mirko Šugić, Syukri Bashir.

Unused subs: Kenji Rusydi (GK), Shahrin Saberin, Syed Akmal, Febryan Putra, Saiful Azhar, Ahmad Dzulfaqar.

Geylang: Rudy Khairullah (GK), Fadli Kamis, Akmal Azman, Rio Sakuma, Ahmad Syahir, Takahiro Tezuka, Joshua Pereira (C), Yushi Yamaya, Arshad Shamim, Iqbal Hussain (Gareth Low 74’), Naufal Azman (Syazwan Abdul Latiff 59’).

Unused subs: Hafiz Ahmad (GK), Faisal Shahril, Shahfiq Ghani, Nizwan Izzairie, Syady Sufwan, Christos Chua, Ikhsanuddin Sharil.

 

Tanjong Pagar United players celebrating a goal against Balestier Khalsa, 6 July 2023.

 

Tigers continue to impress

DPMM 2-3 Balestier | Jalan Besar | 16 July

Azwan Ali Rahman 7’, Hakeme Yazid 16’ | Shuhei Hoshino 2’, Ryoya Taniguchi pen. 32’, 87’

 

After Hoshino’s brilliant instinctive shot to put Balestier ahead, DPMM quickly turned it around with Azwan lashing home a sizzling grounder before Hakeme’s long-range free-kick was spilled in by Hairul Syirhan. However, the Tigers rallied with Taniguchi netting from the spot to equalise. The SPL top scorer then completed the comeback late on as he reacted the quickest after his second penalty was saved to send the Tigers fans wild.

Facts

• Balestier won four straight matches for the first time in their history.
• Balestier have now conceded in their last 35 SPL matches.
• Taniguchi has now reached 20 goals for the season, doubling his 2022 tally – he is currently two goals ahead of Sailors’ Lestienne at the top of the scoring charts.
• Hakeme struck double digits (10 goals) for the first time in the SPL – he scored just one in his maiden campaign in 2019.

DPMM: Haimie Nyaring (GK), Helmi Zambin (Hendra Azam 63’), Hanif Hamir, Yura Indera Putera, Ángel Martínez, Najib Tarif, Hanif Farhan, Farshad Noor, Andrei Varankov, Hakeme Yazid (Nazirrudin Ismail 86’), Azwan Ali Rahman (C) (Abdul Azizi Rahman 59’).

Unused subs: Wardun Yussof (GK), Azwan Saleh, Syafiq Hilmi, Eddy Shahrol Izzat, Razimie Rammli, Awangku Fakharrazi, Nazirrudin Ismail.

Balestier: Hairul Syirhan (GK), Fudhil I’yadh, Madhu Mohana, Jordan Emaviwe, Darren Teh, Alen Kozar, Ho Wai Loon (C), Ryoya Taniguchi, Daniel Goh (Syukri Noorhaizam 78’), Masahiro Sugita, Shuhei Hoshino.

Unused subs: Syazani Hashari (GK), Syabil Hisham, Emmeric Ong, Amer Hakeem, Aidil Johari, Ignatius Ang, Kian Jared Ghaddesy, Garv Sahoo.

Red Card – Yura Indera Putera (DPMM) 90’+1

 

Balestier Khalsa’ Jordan Emaviwe in action against Young Lions, 12 July 2023.

 

Sailors’ title hopes fade

Albirex 3-1 Sailors | Jurong East | 16 July

Shodai Yokoyama 80’, Tadanari Lee 82’, Riku Fukashiro 90’+5 | Richairo Živković pen. 73’

 

The Sailors thought they have thrown another twist to the SPL title race after new recruit Živković netted from the spot to put them ahead, but Albirex came right back into the game with quick-fire goals as Yokayama poked past Zharfan Rohaizad from close range before Lee reacted the quickest in the box with an impudent flick to make it 2-1. Substitute Fukashiro then finished the Sailors off with a stunning breakaway goal in front of a sold-out crowd at Jurong East.

Facts

• The Sailors have lost two out of four matches under Aleksandar Ranković, after losing just twice in 15 matches under former coach Risto Vidaković.
• The Sailors lost successive matches for the first time since October 2022.
• The Sailors have yet to beat Albirex at Jurong East since their 2020 inception.
• Živković’s goal meant the Sailors now have 11 scorers this season – only Albirex have more (12).
• Fukashiro’s goal meant Albirex have now scored 11 goals through substitutes this season – a league-leading tally.

Albirex: Hassan Sunny (GK) (Hyrulnizam Juma’at 42’), Koki Kawachi, Shunsaku Kishimoto, Asahi Yokoyawa (C), Sho Fuwa, Shodai Yokoyama, Junki Yoshimura (Riku Fukashiro 46’), Kaisei Ogawa, Shuto Komaki (Keito Komatsu 76’), Tadanari Lee (Ryo Takahashi 86’), Seia Kunori.

Unused subs: Keito Hariya, Masaya Watanabe, Zamani Zamri, Shakthi Vinayagavijayan, Hilman Norhisam.

Sailors: Zharfan Rohaizad (GK), Hafiz Nor (Shawal Anuar 55’), Lionel Tan, M. Anumanthan, Nur Adam Abdullah, Hariss Harun (C) (Bill Mamadou 88’), Hami Syahin (Abdul Rasaq Akeem 83’), Adam Swandi (Zulqarnaen Suzliman 55’), Maxime Lestienne, Diego Lopes, Richairo Živković.

Unused subs: Adib Nur Hakim (GK), Rusyaidi Salime, Christopher van Huizen, Haiqal Pashia, Nur Muhammad Asis.

 

Albirex Niigata (S)’s Tadanari Lee in action against Brunei DPMM, 8 July 2023.