Written by: Muhammad Yazid

Geylang International’s seven-game undefeated streak came to an end on Thursday evening after they were handed a 4-2 defeat by Albirex Niigata (S) at Jurong East Stadium.

Kazuki Sakamoto, Shuhei Hotta, Kazuya Okazaki and Kento Nagasaki each etched their name onto the scoresheet while Fabian Kwok and Ridhuan Muhammad scored for the Eagles.

The White Swans were put into the driving seat through Kazuki Sakamoto as they took an early lead in the game.

Leonel Felice made a mis-pass to Kazuya, and the midfielder beautifully laid a through ball into space for Sakamoto to latch onto. Shielding Joaquin Lopez away, the latter slotted the ball into the bottom corner from 15 yards out.

However, it did not take long for Geylang to pull themselves level and it was Kwok who did just that with his 50-yard wonder strike in the 32nd minute.

With the Eagles piling the pressure on the attacking end, Albirex goalkeeper Kazuki Kishigami was forced to make a clearance which fell perfectly for Kwok. The midfielder then struck the ball in mid-air brilliantly as the ball sailed towards goal and dipped beyond Kazuki.

The next half proved to be a more exciting than the first, as spectators were treated to four more goals, with Geylang taking the lead for the first time in the match just a minute after the interval.

Kwok turned scorer-provider as he found Ridhuan in space for the skipper to place his finish past the hapless Kishigami.

However, Albirex put themselves back into the game in less than ten minutes through Shuhei. From a Keisuke Ota whipped cross down the right, the skipper executed a striker-esque’s finish to blast it into the top corner from the six-yard box in the 54th minute.

It became all Albirex from there on and they soon regained the lead in the 71st minute through Kazuya.

From the left, Itsuki Yamada lobbed a cross in for the forward to volley into Joey Sim’s palms, but the power of the shot was too much to handle for the custodian as he fumbled the ball and allowed it to roll past the goal-line.

Kento then sealed the win for his side after placing the ball in between the posts in a one-on-one attempt with Sim nine minutes later.

The Eagles had no way back and to make things worse, they were reduced to ten men when Mustaqim Manzur received marching orders for a second bookable offence in the 85th minute.

The referee blew the final whistle soon after to conclude the six-goal thriller which constantly kept spectators on the edge of their seats.