Singapore Premier League • July 29, 2019
Singapore Premier League Week 19: Roundup
SINGAPORE, 29 JULY 2019 – Tampines Rovers hauled themselves right back into the title race with victory against Hougang United as they displaced the latter from third spot. With both leaders Brunei DPMM and Albirex Niigata (S) falling to shock defeats against Home United and Geylang International respectively, it means that there are only five points separating fourth from first. In the final game of the weekend, Young Lions put some distance between themselves and the bottom by beating Balestier Khalsa. We recap the weekend’s action below…
Geylang 1-0 Albirex | Our Tampines Hub | 26 July
Zikos Chua 90’+5
Geylang stunned Albirex for a second time this season at Our Tampines Hub as they pulled off a repeat of their 1-0 win here earlier this season, where they ended the champions’ record unbeaten run. Daizo Horikoshi hit the bar and Zainol Gulam pulled off some fine saves for the hosts, who also had their chances in an entertaining game. They ended up having the last laugh though as substitute Zikos Chua was in the right place at the right time to scuff the ball in after Barry Maguire’s shot had been deflected off the bar, sparking wild celebrations in the stands from their supporters.
Facts
– Geylang recorded their sixth win of the season; they tallied five for the 2018 season.
– Zikos became the youngest ever player to hit the five-goal mark in league history at 17 years and 102 days.
– Zikos has scored four goals as a substitute; no other player has more.
– Albirex are win-less in three games now.
Geylang XI: Zainol Gulam (GK), Jufri Taha, Darren Teh, Yuki Ichikawa (C), Umar Akhbar (Zikos Chua 59’), Barry Maguire, Christopher van Huizen, Firdaus Kasman, Danish Irfan, Amy Recha (Muhd Noor Ariff 72’), Shawal Anuar.
Unused subs: Hairul Syirhan (GK), Matthew Palmer, Bryan Tan, Ifwat Ismail, Azri Suhaili.
Albirex XI: Kengo Fukudome (GK), Naruki Takahashi, Kyoga Nakamura (C), Sota Sugiyama, Kaishu Yamazaki, Firas Irwan (Daizo Horikoshi 46’), Zamani Zamri (Makito Hatanaka 80’), Yosuke Nakagawa, Daichi Tanabe, Shoki Ohara, Hiroyoshi Kamata.
Unused subs: Hyrulnizam Juma’at (GK), Yusuke Kawagoe (GK), Yoshikatsu Hiraga, Gamu Tasaka, Shunsuke Fukuda.
Home 1-0 DPMM | Bishan | 27 July
Arshad Shamim 80′
The leaders stumbled to a third defeat of the season – their second consecutive one – as their recent struggles away from home continued. Shahril Ishak hit the bar with a flicked header and Hendra Azam fired over from a promising position in a fairly even match that was decided 10 minutes from time. Juma’at Jantan’s deflected effort was cleverly flicked on by Shahril into the path of Arshad Shamim, who kept his cool to tuck away a first-time finish for the winner.
Facts
– Home ended a two-game win-less streak.
– Arshad scored his first ever career goal.
– Bill Mamadou made his professional debut.
– DPMM have now won just once in their last six away games (D2 L3).
Home XI: Nazri Sabri (GK), Suhairi Sabri (Muhelmy Suhaimi 61’), Abdil Qaiyyim (C), Faizal Roslan, Ho Wai Loon, Taufiq Muqminin (Juma’at Jantan 71’), Song Uiyoung, Arshad Shamim, Shahril Ishak, Hafiz Nor, Amiruldin Asraf (Bill Mamadou 77’).
Unused subs: Haikal Hasnol (GK), Aqhari Abdullah, Oliver Puflett, Anaqi Ismit.
DPMM XI: Wardun Yussof (GK)(C), Yura Indera Putera, Charlie Clough, Helmi Zambin, Nurikhwan Othman, Hendra Azam (Hazwan Hamzah 89’), Adi Said (Shah Razen Said 88’), Najib Tarif, Azwan Ali Rahman, Abdul Azizi Rahman (Razimee Ramlli 75’), Blake Ricciuto.
Unused subs: Haimie Nyaring (GK), Awangku Fakharrazi, Abdul Mu’iz Sisa, Azwan Saleh.
Hougang 2-4 Tampines | Jalan Besar | 27 July
Stipe Plazibat 55′, Fabian Kwok 80′ | Jordan Webb pen. 45’+1, 76′, Yasir Hanapi, 69′, Joel Chew 90’+4
Hougang spurned the opportunity to close the gap on DPMM to two points with victory here as they instead fell to Tampines in another six-goal thriller between these two teams. A contentious foul allowed Jordan Webb to put the Stags ahead on the stroke of half-time, though Stipe Plazibat equalised soon after the restart after a next exchange with Afiq Noor. Yasir Hanapi volleyed the visitors back into the lead after Ryutaro Megumi’s shot rebounded off the post into his path and Webb added a third to seemingly put the game to bed. But Fabian Kwok turned in Faris Ramli’s corner to set up a grandstand finish and Nazrul Nazari was unfortunate to see his lob come off the bar, while Plazibat fired wide from a good position. In the end, the Cheetahs were caught on the break as Joel Chew curled in a splendid finish at the death.
Facts
– Kwok became the 15th different player to score for Hougang this season; no other team has more different scorers.
– Hougang have now conceded four times in second-half injury time, the most of any team.
– Tampines are now unbeaten against Hougang in their last nine encounters, winning eight of those.
– The last three games between these two sides have seen six goals in each game.
– Webb has scored in each of his last eight games (10 goals total), the best such individual streak this season.
– Webb is the first player to score braces in back-to-back games this season.
– Webb has scored four penalties, joint-most in the league with Andrei Varankou.
– Chew scored his first career goal.
– Megumi made a league-leading ninth assist.
Hougang XI: Ridhuan Barudin (GK), Alif Iskandar (Nazrul Nazari 53’), Afiq Yunos, Kong Howon, Hafiz Sujad, Zulfahmi Arifin (C), Stipe Plazibat, Nikesh Singh (Fabian Kwok 67’), Farhan Zulkifli (Iqbal Hussain 46’), Faris Ramli, Afiq Noor.
Unused subs: Khairulhin Khalid (GK), Fazrul Nawaz, Muhaimin Suhaimi, Timothy Yeo.
Tampines XI: Syazwan Buhari (GK), Akmal Azman, Madhu Mohana, Amirul Adli, Irwan Shah, Yasir Hanapi (Daniel Bennett 79’), Shahdan Sulaiman (C), Shah Shahiran (Joel Chew 90’+3), Ryutaro Megumi, Jordan Webb, Taufik Suparno (Zehrudin Mehmedović 61’).
Unused subs: Zephen Nonis (GK), Zulfadhmi Suzliman, Safirul Sulaiman, Elijah Lim.
Young Lions 1-0 Balestier | Jalan Besar | 28 July
Nur Luqman Rahman 28’
The Young Lions defeated Balestier for a second time in three encounters this season thanks to an opportunistic finish from Nuq Luqman Rahman in the first half. The Tigers hit the woodwork twice, first through Fadli Kamis and then Kristijan Krajček as the hosts held firm to take their fifth win of the season.
Facts
– Young Lions have equalled last season’s tally of five wins.
– Both of Luqman’s goals this season have been match-winners.
– Balestier have failed to win any of their last nine games, losing eight of those.
– Balestier have failed to keep a clean sheet in any of their last 13 league games, their worst such streak since October 2016.
