Written by: Nigel Chin

Albirex Niigata (S) advanced to their second RHB Singapore Cup Final after emerging 3-1 winners on aggregate against Global FC.

Atsushi Kawata had a goal and an assist apiece as Albirex triumphed 2-1 at the Jurong East Stadium on Tuesday evening in the second leg of the semi-final.

The White Swans will now have a chance to become double cup winners, having secured The New Paper League Cup back in July.

With their regular season over, Global did not play a single game since the first-leg defeat in October, and their rustiness showed as they struggled to keep up with the pacey Albirex attackers.

Ten minutes was all it took for the hosts to open the scoring. After exchanging passes with Fumiya Kogure, Kawata raced into the box before producing a fine finish with the outside of his right boot.

It could have been 2-0 in the 20th minute after Kogure’s powerful effort took a deflection off Daisuke Sato and headed towards the top corner, until Deyto pulled off a stunning save to tip it away.

Global slowly got into their groove and created a few openings, but both Mark Hartmann and Misagh Bahadoran sent their efforts wide instead towards the end of the half.

Bahadoran then wasted a decent opportunity five minutes after the restart by shooting straight at Nozawa, before planting a header wide moments later.

The Philippines side eventually pulled one back in the 66th minute though, after a rare mistake from Nozawa.

The Japanese keeper mis-kicked his clearance straight to Bahadoran, who played Matthew Hartmann through, but the shot was stopped by Nozawa. The rebound went straight to his brother Mark, who made no mistakes with his finish.

Less than a minute later, Bahadoran went on a mazy run past several markers before pulling the trigger, but sent it straight at Nozawa instead.

However, a comeback was not on the cards, with substitute Rion Taki netting the winner just three minutes after coming on. Kawata was the provider this time around, sending a low cross for Taki to slot in.

Mark Hartmann had one final chance with time winding down, but was denied by Nozawa yet again, who held the header firmly on his goal-line.

Albirex Niigata (S): Yosuke Nozawa (GK)(C), Mikiya Yamada, Takahiro Saito, Kento Fujihara, Itsuki Yamada, Hikaru Mizuno, Shun Inaba, Yusuke Mukai (Rion Taki 78’), Atsushi Kawata, Fumiya Kogure (Ryuki Matsuya 90’), Rui Kumada (Kento Nagasaki 70’)

Global FC: Patrick Deyto (GK), Jerry Barboso, Masaki Yanagawa, Amani Aguinaldo, Daisuke Saito, Mario Clarino (Richard Jr. Talaroc 87’), Yu Hoshide (Paulo Salenga 77’), Dennis Villanueva, Matthew Hartmann, Misagh Bahadoran (C), Mark Hartmann