Written by: Phoon Jia Hui

Home United’s six-match unbeaten run in all competitions came to an end as they fell 4-2 to Albirex Niigata (S) at Jurong East Stadium on Sunday evening.

A brace from Kazuki Sakamoto and a goal each from Kazuya Okazaki and Shuhei Hotta saw the White Swans cruise to a four-goal lead, rendering late strikes from Lee Kwan Woo and Fazrul Nawaz a mere consolation.

Home coach Lee Lim Saeng was understandably upset after the match, and took full responsibility for the result.

“I think our defence was poor and I need to analyse this game again,” he said.

“I’m very disappointed in myself as head coach and I want to take responsibility for tonight’s result.”

While he pinpointed his defence as the main reason behind the defeat, the Protectors coach of five years refused to fault them and instead credited the opponents for putting in a stellar performance.

“Albirex are a quality team. They are sharp and our defenders couldn’t cope with that, but I understand my players’ fitness,” Lee pointed out.

“We won our last six games and my players have done well. We needed to cover for each other but we were not doing that, maybe we were lacking in concentration. We will analyse the videos with the team again and try to lift their spirits.”

On the other hand, Lee’s opposite number Tatsuyuki Okuyama was delighted with the result but more so with the way his team set out to play.

“I knew Home are a good team, so we tried to prevent them from playing well and we played well today,” said the Japanese.

“In terms of our mobility, we were good and we could score four goals and I’m very happy with that.”

“We needed to win to stay in a good position in the table and today was an important game for us,” he added.

Okuyama was also suitably impressed by Home’s marquee player Lee Kwan Woo who impressed despite ending up on the losing side.

“We were concerned with the number 13 Lee Kwan Woo and Bruno Castanheira and at the end of the game, Lee showed his quality,” Okuyama said.

“Our players are still young and I want my players to respect and learn from him.”