Written By: Kenneth Ho

Tanjong Pagar United cruised to a comfortable 5-0 victory over Harimau Muda at Pasir Gudang on Thursday evening.

Ashraf Rashid, Monsef Zerka, Hafiz Osman and Sebastien Etiemble all got onto the scoresheet for the Jaguars, with Etiemble securing a brace.

Even though Tanjong Pagar scored all the goals in the game, Harimau were the first to threaten and could have easily scored were it not for Tanjong Pagar goalkeeper Aurelien Herisson.

In the fourth minute, Harimau Muda had the first sight of goal when Syawal Nordin saw his header saved by Herisson following a corner by Shahrul Igwan.

The custodian was then called upon once again five minutes later, as he had to get down quickly to smother Ramzi Haziq’s attempt.

Immediately, Tanjong Pagar went on the counter and saw Monsef Zerka picking his spot at the other end, however Harimau Muda goalkeeper Ramdhan Hamid got down low to stop the shot.

However, the Jaguars did not have to wait long to break the deadlock, with Ashraf opening the accounts for the visitors in the 11th minute.

After a clever pass by Kamel Ramdani to release Sebastian Etiemble, the latter unselfishly squared the ball for Ashraf to slot home.

Harimau should have equalised the game in the 20th minute, but they were a tad unfortunate to see several shots come off the bar.

Afiq Fazil first saw his shot from 20 yards cannon off the bar, before Azrul Nizam Muhammad’s follow-up shot got pushed away by Herisson.

The ball then fell for Ramzi Haziq to cross in from the right, and Nurshamil Abd Ghani met the former’s cross with a firm header. However, to his dismay, the woodwork once again denied his side a goal.

Things turned worse for the Young Tigers ten minutes later, when Ashraf turned provider after latching onto a diagonal ball from Firdaus Idros to lay the ball off for an unmarked Etiemble to roll home.

The Young Tigers barely had any time to rest, as it became 3-0 in the 34th minute.

Zerka skipped past Syawal’s challenge and found himself in a one-on-one situation with Ramdhan. Despite the goalkeeper making a good save from the striker, the rebound fell nicely for Zerka to drive into goal.

The tempo slowed a little after the break, but Tanjong Pagar were still the dominant side, with the Young Tigers looking dispirited with the huge goal deficit to overcome.

Tanjong Pagar made sure the Young Tigers paid for their insipid display, as Hafiz Osman made it 4-0 in the 61st minute with a header off Etiemble’s corner.

Etiemble then secured his brace in the 64th minute, after having all the time in the world to pick his spot from seven yards out.

Harimau could have pulled one back in the 74th minute, but Herisson was once again in the way as he pulled off a flying save to tip away Shahrul’s rising shot.

It could have been 6-0 ten minutes from time, but Ramdhan managed to execute an acrobatic save to prevent Idros’ stinging shot from going in.

The last noteworthy chance of the game came just a minute later, when Shahrul managed to conjure space for himself from 10 yards out. However, the striker just could not get a break as he drilled a shot just wide of the post.