Lion City Sailors’ Shawal Anuar in action against Young Lions, 22 July 2024
SINGAPORE, 25 JULY 2024 – BG Tampines Rovers’ lead at the top was cut from three to a point as they were held to a last-gasp draw by Geylang International, while nearest rivals Lion City Sailors closed the gap with a thumping win over Young Lions. Elsewhere, Hougang United edged defending champions Albirex Niigata (S) for their first victory of the season while Balestier Khalsa came up on top in a seven-goal thriller against Tanjong Pagar United. We recap all the action here…
Sailors rediscover groove
Young Lions 0-6 Sailors | Jalan Besar | 22 July
Shawal Anuar 3’, 32’, Maxime Lestienne 56’, Song Uiyoung 64’, Lennart Thy 69’, Haiqal Pashia 90’+3
It was as straightforward as it got for the Sailors, with Shawal benefitting from two Lestienne crosses to score a first-half brace before returning the favour to the latter to fire home a third. Lestienne continued his generous ways, setting up Song and Thy respectively to make it 5-0 before Pashia came off the bench to round off a convincing victory for the visitors.
Facts
- Lestienne scored one and assisted four in this match.
- Pashia scored his first goal since September 2023.
- Sailors got their third clean sheet of the season – they have the second-most shutouts this season, one behind league-leading BG Tampines.
- Sailors’ Izwan Mahbud made his first SPL start since October 2022.
- Young Lions’ Nyqil Iyyan made his professional debut.
Young Lions: Aizil Yazid (GK), Ryaan Sanizal (Syafi Nur Hilman 85’), Jun Kobayashi, Kieran Teo, Nur Adam Abdullah, Kan Kobayashi (Fathullah Rahmat 71’), Kaisei Ogawa, Khairin Nadim (Ethan Pinto 79’), Danish Qayyum (Amir Syafiz 46’), Farhan Zulkifli (C) (Nyqil Iyyan 71’), Itsuki Enomoto.
Unused subs: Travis Ang (GK), Aqil Yazid, Izz Anaqi, Danial Crichton.
Sailors: Izwan Mahbud (GK), Lionel Tan (Hafiz Nor 78’), Bailey Wright (C), Toni Datković, Christopher van Huizen, Rui Pires (Anumanthan Kumar 85’), Hami Syahin (Hariss Harun 78’), Maxime Lestienne, Shawal Anuar (Haiqal Pashia 85’), Song Uiyoung (Nur Muhammad Asis 85’), Lennart Thy.
Unused subs: Zharfan Rohaizad (GK), Bill Mamadou, Sergio Carmona Pérez, Nathan Mao.
Lion City Sailors celebrating a goal against Young Lions, 22 July 2024
Cheetahs’ lift-off
Hougang 1-0 Albirex | Jalan Besar | 23 July
Stjepan Plazonja 78’
A tight game was decided by an unerring Plazonja finish, with the Croatian lashing a grasscutter in off the post after being teed up by Gabriel Quak as the Cheetahs finally tasted victory for the first time this season.
Facts
- Hougang won for the first time in 12 SPL matches – their last victory prior to this was in August 2023 when they defeated Brunei DPMM 1-0.
- Hougang’s victory meant every team has won at least one match in the SPL this season.
- Hougang defeated Albirex in the SPL for the first time since July 2019.
Hougang: Zaiful Nizam (GK), Nazrul Nazari (C), Ensar Brunčević, Faris Hasić, Danish Irfan, Ismail Salihović, Shodai Yokoyama, Shahdan Sulaiman, Hazzuwan Halim (Gabriel Quak 76’), Stjepan Plazonja (Ajay Robson 89’), Dejan Račić.
Unused subs: Kenji Rusydi (GK), Keith Chung (GK), Isaac Jonathan (GK), Justin Hui, Nazhiim Harman, Zamani Zamri, Danie Hafiy.
Albirex: Hassan Sunny (GK), Junki Yoshimura, Koki Kawachi, Stevia Egbus Mikuni, Gareth Low, Syed Firdaus Hassan, Ho Wai Loon (C) (Arshad Shamim 65’), Arya Igami Tarhani, Daniel Goh (Haziq Kamarudin 84’), Shingo Nakano (Syukri Bashir 86’), Shuhei Hoshino.
Unused subs: Dylan Pereira (GK), Zainol Gulam (GK), Daniel Martens, Hilman Norhisam, Kenji Austin, Rauf Anaqi Khan.
Hougang United’s Nazrul Nazari in action against Albirex Niigata (S), 23 July 2024
Stags frustrated by Eagles again
BG Tampines 2-2 Geylang | Jalan Besar | 24 July
Glenn Kweh 26’, Seia Kunori 75’ | Ryoya Taniguchi 55’, Rio Sakuma 90’+4
Yet another Eastern Derby ended in a thriller, with Kweh’s stunning goal from the edge of the box cancelled out by Taniguchi’s speculative long-range free-kick for Geylang. Kunori then curled home a neat effort and that looked enough for BG Tampines to claim the three points, until Sakuma headed in a Vincent Bezecourt corner deep into stoppage time to steal a point for the Eagles.
Facts
- Geylang are the only team to take points off Tampines this season and they have now done it on two occasions.
- BG Tampines are winless in their last six Eastern Derbies in the league – their last SPL victory against the Eagles came in August 2022.
- Geylang and BG Tampines are still the only unbeaten sides in the SPL this campaign.
- Kopitović failed to score for the first time in nine matches this season.
BG Tampines: Syazwan Buhari (GK) (C), Irfan Najeeb, Shuya Yamashita, Miloš Zlatković, Amirul Adli (Saifullah Akbar 86’), Shah Shahiran, Kyoga Nakamura, Glenn Kweh, Seia Kunori (Taufik Suparno 86’), Faris Ramli (Yasir Hanapi 76’), Boris Kopitović (Jared Gallagher 90’+2).
Unused subs: Ridhuan Barudin (GK), Syahrul Sazali, Kegan Phang, Caelan Cheong, Thanet Suknate.
Geylang: Rudy Khairullah (GK), Akmal Azman (Joshua Pereira 46’), Rio Sakuma (C), Keito Hariya, Shakir Hamzah, Takahiro Tezuka, Vincent Bezecourt, Naqiuddin Eunos, Ryoya Taniguchi (Naufal Azman 73’), Iqbal Hussain (Zikos Chua 84’), Tomoyuki Doi.
Unused subs: Hairul Syirhan (GK), Faisal Shahril, Ahmad Syahir, Raiyan Noor, Hud Ismail, Shafrel Ariel.
Geylang International’s Tomoyuki Doi in action against BG Tampines Rovers, 24 July 2024
Tigers strengthen hold on fourth spot
Balestier 5-2 Tanjong Pagar | Bishan | 24 July
Kodai Tanaka 12’, 50’, 59’, Ismail Sassi 41’, Ignatius Ang 82’ | Shodai Nishikawa 19’, 54’
Tanaka swept Balestier ahead with a brilliant finish, before Nishikawa curled home a stunner from the edge of the box to pull Tanjong Pagar level. Sassi then capitalised on a defensive error to put the Tigers back ahead, with Tanaka netting another to make it 3-1. Nishikawa did pull another one back for the visitors, but Tanaka then completed his hat-trick before going on to set up Ang to complete the rout.
Facts
- Tanaka scored his first SPL hat-trick since October 2022 in Albirex’s 4-2 win over Sailors.
- Sassi has scored four goals in his last four SPL outings.
- Nishikawa netted his first-ever SPL brace.
- Tanjong Pagar’s Arsyad Basiron made his SPL debut.
Balestier: Hafiz Ahmad (GK), Fudhil I’yadh (Amer Hakeem 85’), Tajeli Salamat, Madhu Mohana, Jordan Emaviwe, Darren Teh, Alen Kozar (C) (Amiruldin Asraf 85’), Ismail Sassi, Ignatius Ang, Riku Fukashiro, Kodai Tanaka.
Unused subs: Martyn Mun (GK), Wayne Chew (GK), Emmeric Ong, Harith Kanadi, Elijah Lim, Irfan Mika’il, Reycredo Bukit.
Tanjong Pagar: Prathip Ekamparam (GK), Zenivio Mota, Pathy Malumandsoko, Faizal Roslan (C), Syed Akmal, Timur Talipov, Rezza Rezky (Syahadat Masnawi 66’), Tomoki Wada, Stefan Paunović, Shodai Nishikawa, Sahil Suhaimi (Arsyad Basiron 80’).
Unused subs: Fashah Iskandar (GK), Riki Kimura (GK), Shahrin Saberin, Azim Akbar, Umar Akhbar, Ahmad Danial, Ihsan Hadi.
Balestier Khalsa’s Ismail Sassi in action against Tanjong Pagar United, 24 July 2024
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