Written by: Muhammad Yazid

Title challengers Home United and Tampines Rovers battled it out to a 2-2 draw at the Bishan Stadium on Sunday evening as both teams shared the spoils of an exciting encounter.

Both sides went onto the pitch gunning for three points as that would be the only way to draw them closer to league leaders Brunei DPMM.

However, after defenders Abdil Qaiyyim and Kwon Dakyung scored for their respective sides before substitute Qiu Li gave the Protectors the lead, Fahrudin Mustafic hit home a penalty in the dying moments of the game to salvage the draw for his side.

It was the Stags who missed their first opportunity in the game, as Shahdan Sulaiman’s 30-yard shot went a whisker above the bar.

Home were making the best out of the set-pieces they were presented with, and Lee Kwan Woo came close to converting two of them.

His first was a thunderous one from the left which sailed just over the bar, before his second one in the 35th minute.

From 30 yards out, the former South Korean international unleashed a powerful free-kick straight into the hands of Hyrulnizam Juma’at, who parried it away into the space of Fazrul Nawaz, before the striker applied too much power as the ball flew over the upright.

Tampines looked brighter only after the restart, as they started making more efficient and timely runs which gave them more space.

Imran Sahib drove a low shot which was palmed away by Shahril Jantan, before his teammate Adil put Tampines to the driving seat in the 53rd minute.

The defender was at the end of Shahdan’s corner as he swiftly creeped his finish into the top corner of the net.

Minutes later, Miljan Mrdakovic almost made it two when he skipped past Precious Emuejeraye’s challenge and had his low finish saved by the save legs of Shahril.

With 20 minutes to go, Duric agonisingly finished his effort inches away from the post with his outside foot.

It was a moment of glory for Hyrulnizam as he executed a double save in the 73rd minute by keeping out Qiu Li’s initial shot from outside the penalty box and Indra Sahdan’s rebound from five yards.

The Protectors eventually drew level in the 75th minute when Kwon Dakyung clinically finished off Sirina Camara’s inswinging free-kick from the right with a volley which found the bottom corner of the net.

Soon after, Qiu Li gave his side the lead for the first time in the game in the 83rd minute when he latched onto a long ball by Camara before sweetly curling his left foot shot over Hyrulnizam.

Tampines were adamant in getting back into the game and responded almost immediately through Duric, whose header off Ang Zhi Wei’s cross was brilliantly saved by Shahril.

The Stags got rewarded in injury time when Bruno Castanheira was alleged to have handled the ball in the penalty area, and Mustafic stepped up to convert the resulting penalty to avoid a first defeat since Rafi Ali’s appointment.