Geylang International vs Home United

(May 22, Thursday, 7.30pm, Bedok Stadium)

Written by: Phoon Jia Hui

Geylang International entertain Home United at Bedok Stadium where they will be looking to return to winning ways here.

Coach Jorg Steinebrunner’s fairytale start to his Geylang career has come to an end after his side fell to two straight defeats in their last two matches, this coming after going on a seven-match unbeaten run since the German’s arrival to the club in March.

The Eagles were beaten 4-2 by Albirex Niigata (S), in a game which saw midfielder Fabian Kwok score a stunning goal to make headlines both locally and worldwide before they narrowly lost out 1-0 to Warriors FC in their last match.

In fact, Geylang can take heart from their second-half performance against Warriors but were denied by some excellent goalkeeping from opposing goalkeeper Hassan Sunny as well as the upright.

The Geylang backline will also have to stay focused throughout the 90 minutes after allowing a lead to slip against the White Swans.

Home on the other hand were denied all three points in their last game as they drew 2-2 with reigning champions Tampines Rovers at Bishan, slightly over a week after they were held to a draw by the much-improved Courts Young Lions.

Seven minutes away from victory, a controversial penalty saw Tampines’ Fahrudin Mustafic convert a penalty which had the teams settling for a point each. Hence, the Protectors will badly need a win if they still harbour hopes of winning the title especially with leaders Brunei DPMM having gone ten points clear of Home.

Despite that, they are still a force to be reckoned with and they will be relying on their forwards to find the goals in what is a case of ‘attack is the best form of defence’ with their defence being suspect at times.

The two teams met earlier this season and it ended in a 4-1 win for Home with former Eagle Yasir Hanapi grabbing a brace and Geylang will want to banish memories of that disappointing display with a positive result.

Key Men to Watch

Geylang International: Leonel Felice

Brought in to fill the boots of departed skipper Jozef Kaplan, Leonel Felice has done a decent job in replicating the efforts of the former.

After a slow start to the season, the Argentine has hit the ground running and has banged in six goals thus far with one assist to his name as well.

Even though he failed to find the net against Albirex two games ago, the threat from Felice cannot be discounted. As evidenced by his performance in that match, both his shots were on target but he was just luckless in front of goal.

Home United: Lee Kwan Woo

At the halfway mark, Lee Kwan Woo is the best attacking midfielder according to InStat.

With five assists to his name, he has a 77% passing accuracy of which four were key passes and has also popped up with three goals although he is not exactly a goal-scoring midfielder.

Regarded as the central figure to Home’s attacks, the former South Korean international has an eye for a pass and has the ability to find teammates with his no-look pass.

Geylang International – LLDDD

16/5/14    Geylang International 0-1 Warriors FC

8/5/14      Albirex Niigata (S) 4-2 Geylang International

1/5/14      Geylang International 1-1 Tanjong Pagar United

26/4/14    Geylang International 1-1 Woodlands Wellington

17/4/14    Balestier Khalsa 1-1 Geylang International

Home United – DDWLW

18/5/14    Home United 2-2 Tampines Rovers

7/5/14      Courts Young Lions 1-1 Home United

2/5/14      Warriors FC 1-4 Home United

27/4/14    Albirex Niigata (S) 4-2 Home United

23/4/14    Persipura Jayapura 0-2 Home United (AFC Cup)

Head to Head (S.League)

1/3/14      Home United 4-1 Geylang International

4/7/13      Home United 2-1 Geylang International

23/3/13    Geylang International 1-3 Home United

18/7/12    Home United 7-3 Geylang International

11/3/12    Geylang International 1-7 Home United

27/11/11  Home United 5-0 Geylang International

8/8/11      Geylang International 1-3 Home United

26/4/11    Home United 2-1 Geylang International