Written by: Kenneth Ho

Geison Moura struck three minutes from time to earn Hougang United a 2-1 win over Tanjong Pagar United at Queenstown Stadium on Thursday evening.

Fazli Jaffar was instrumental in the Cheetahs’ victory as he provided two superb deliveries to allow his side to achieve victory in an even game.

The Jaguars had initially taken the lead in the 26th minute when Igor Cerina handled the ball in the box and was penalised with a penalty, and Sebastien Etiemble struck the resulting spot-kick with venom despite slipping during the run–up.

However, Cerina redeemed himself with a goal ten minutes later when he rose the highest to meet Fazli’s corner and level the score for the Cheetahs.

Just when it looked to be heading for a draw as the final whistle loomed, Fazli provided a telling cross into the box for Moura to dive onto and head home in the 87th minute.

Tanjong Pagar had started the match under undesirable circumstances as they were missing several players. Key players Kamel Ramdani and Ahmad Latiff missed out through injury, while midfielder Ruzaini Zainal and Nor Azli Yusoff were suspended after being sent off in their last match against Harimau Muda.

However, they emerged from the first half with a credible performance to tie with the Cheetahs.

The Jaguars’ woes were further compounded during the match when Anthony Aymard had to be stretchered off the pitch in the 54th minute.

Despite the loss of yet another player, Tanjong Pagar were still able to regroup and trouble Hougang, creating chances after chances but failing to test Hougang goalkeeper Fadhil Salim on most occasions.

In particular, misses by Firdaus Idros and Masrezwan Masturi during the one-on-one opportunities they had with Fadhil may be pointed to as the costly factors which lost the game for them.

Firdaus had a good chance to score in the 52nd minute when he faced Fadhil alone but the winger could only lift his shot over the bar, while Tanjong Pagar forward Masrezwan replicated his teammate’s effort from a similar situation in the 73rd minute

When the Jaguars did get their shot on target, Fadhil was there to deny them. Etiemble took a fierce shot from an acute angle in the 79th minute but Fadhil showed great reflexes to push the ball behind for a corner.

With Tanjong Pagar unable to grab their chances,  Geison eventually punished them with his late goal to give the Jaguars their first loss of the season, while providing Hougang with their first win of the season.