Written By: Kenneth Ho
Hougang United secured seventh spot in the Great Eastern Yeo’s S.League after a 4-0 victory over Geylang International on Tuesday evening at Bedok Stadium.
Kento Fukuda scored an own goal to gift Hougang the lead before Geison Moura grabbed a brace in the second half. Firman Hanif added one to the scoresheet as well.
The game started at a slow pace, with neither side coming close to troubling either goalkeepers.
Leonel Felice hit a shot wide while Shuntake Nakatake’s free kick was smothered by Siddiq Durimi as both sides struggled to break to find chances.
The accounts finally opened in the 40th minute, albeit an own goal by Geylang after Fukuda inadvertently deflected a cross by Fazli Jaffar past his own custodian Siddiq.
Igor Cerina then sliced a close-range effort over from the far post as the Cheetahs went into the break with a slender one-goal lead.
While the first half was tight, the second half was anything but that as Hougang added three goals past a helpless Geylang.
Moura doubled the deficit for the hosts when he went on a dazzling run to skip past two challenges, before calmly slotting the ball past Siddiq in the 48th minute.
Barely three minutes later, it became 3-0. A half-clearance by Geylang found Firman at the edge of the box and he the defender promptly lashed a splendid effort over the line.
Geylang struggled to pull a goal back as Hougang held firm, and they were not helped by off-target shots. Aliff Shafaein and Felice were unable to find the mark despite having time and space on several occasions.
On the hour mark, Mustaqim Manzur made Hougang goalkeeper Basil Chan work with an excellent 25-yard free kick.
Despite the three-goal lead, Hougang did not let up and their endeavours rewarded them with another goal in the 76th minute, when Moura slotted in one at the near post.
There was to be no more goalmouth action from there on, but the damage had already been done for Geylang as their hopes of topping Tier Two were dashed.