Singapore Premier League • August 20, 2019
Singapore Premier League Week 22: Roundup
SINGAPORE, 20 AUGUST 2019 – Hougang United drew level on points with leaders Brunei DPMM over the weekend after victory over the Young Lions, while Tampines Rovers kept the heat up in third place by seeing off Albirex Niigata (S). Home United mounted a comeback to beat Warriors FC in the Uniformed Derby, while Geylang International grabbed a late winner once again in a thriller against Balestier Khalsa. We recap the weekend’s action below…
Warriors 1-3 Home | Jurong East | 17 August
Gabriel Quak 10′ | Shahril Ishak 12′, 71′, Hafiz Nor 68′
Warriors captain Gabriel Quak gave his side a dream start with a fine goal, taking down Tajeli Salamat’s long ball on the right before motoring into the box to slot a calm finish into the bottom left corner. However, Shahril Ishak levelled within two minutes for the visitors by smashing in Aqhari Abdullah’s pass from eight yards. The Protectors grew from strength to strength after the break and went ahead through Hafiz Nor, who collected Amiruldin Asraf’s through ball and left a defender for dead before finishing past Fashah Iskandar. Slack marking at a corner just three minutes later allowed Shahril to head in Arshad Shamim’s cross to seal all three points in the 81st Uniformed Derby.
Facts
– Warriors have now not won against Home in their last six encounters, losing four of those.
– Quak scored his ninth league goal of the season, the same as his overall tally from the previous three seasons.
– Afiq Azrhy made his professional debut.
Warriors XI: Fashah Iskandar (GK), Afiq Azrhy (Suria Prakash 62’), Emmeric Ong, R. Aaravin, Kento Fukuda, Tajeli Salamat, Faizal Raffi (Khairul Nizam 73’), Gabriel Quak (C), Poh Yi Feng, Sahil Suhaimi (Ignatius Ang 84’), Jonathan Behe.
Unused subs: Riki Kimura (GK), Ammirul Emmran, Ryhan Stewart, Shameer Aziq.
Home XI: Nazri Sabri (GK), Juma’at Jantan (C)(Faritz Hameed 84’), Abdil Qaiyyim, Faizal Roslan, Ho Wai Loon, Shahril Ishak, Aqhari Abdullah (Bill Mamadou 87’), Arshad Shamim, Hami Syahin, Hafiz Nor, Amiruldin Asraf (Iqram Rifqi 77’).
Unused subs: Haikal Hasnol (GK), Taufiq Muqminin, Muhelmy Suhaimi, Sheikh Faris.
Tampines 2-0 Albirex | Our Tampines Hub | 18 August
Shahdan Sulaiman 2′, Jordan Webb 25′
A masterful performance from Tampines captain Shahdan Sulaiman saw his side deal Albirex’s title hopes a blow. The playmaker curled in a clever low free-kick just 120 seconds into the game and then set up Jordan Webb for a second goal with a delightful pass. Webb had smashed a penalty off the bar before that but it didn’t matter as the Stags saw out the game without much trouble to close the gap on DPMM and Hougang to two points.
Facts
– Tampines beat Albirex for the first time in 12 games, having lost 10 out of the preceding 11 encounters before this.
– Albirex have now not won in four games, having taken only one point out of a possible 12.
– Shahdan has scored five direct free-kick goals this season, the most of any player in the league.
– Webb has scored 13 goals, putting him just one behind top scorer Andrei Varankou.
Tampines XI: Syazwan Buhari (GK), Akmal Azman, Madhu Mohana, Amirul Adli, Irwan Shah (Joel Chew 90’+2), Yasir Hanapi (Daniel Bennett 87’), Shahdan Sulaiman (C), Shah Shahiran, Taufik Suparno (Zehrudin Mehmedovic 67’), Ryutaro Megumi, Jordan Webb.
Unused subs: Zulfairuuz Rudy (GK), Zulfadhmi Suzliman, Safirul Sulaiman, Hamizan Hisham.
Albirex XI: Kengo Fukudome (GK), Shuhei Sasahara, Daizo Horikoshi, Kyoga Nakamura (C), Sota Sugiyama, Kaishu Yamazaki (Naruki Takahashi 78’), Firas Irwan (Daichi Tanabe 46’), Zamani Zamri (Yoshikatsu Hiraga 76’), Yosuke Nakagawa, Shoki Ohara, Hiroyoshi Kamata.
Unused subs: Hyrulnizam Juma’at (GK), Makito Hatanaka, Kodai Sumikawa, Daniel Martens.
Balestier 3-4 Geylang | Bishan | 18 August
Daniel Goh 65′, 73′, Šime Žužul 74′ | Christopher van Huizen 7′, Shawal Anuar 57′, Fareez Farhan 90′, Amy Recha 90’+4
A see-saw thriller took place at Bishan where Geylang looked to have blown a two-goal lead, only to snatch a dramatic late winner. Christopher van Huizen’s crisp volley off Anders Aplin’s cross set the Eagles on their way early on and they looked in complete control when Fareez Farhan played in Shawal Anuar to blast home after leaving two defenders in his wake. But substitute Daniel Goh converted Hazzuwan Halim’s cut-back and then headed in Fadli Kamis’ flick-on to stun the visitors, before Šime Žužul put them ahead with an instinctive finish. There was to be late heartbreak, however – Fareez spun around to slide home a low finish and then Amy Recha smashed in the ball from a yard deep into injury time to settle the tie.
Facts
– Goh scored his first goals of the season.
– Balestier have now not kept a clean sheet in any of their last 16 league games, their worst such streak since June 2009.
– Van Huizen scored his first goal of the season.
– Geylang have scored nine goals after the 80th minute, the most of any team this season.
Balestier XI: Zacharial Leong (GK), Fadli Kamis (C), Sheikh Abdul Hadi, Khalili Khalif (Ahmad Zaki 65’), Nurullah Hussein, Hazzuwan Halim (Illyas Lee 86’), Sanjin Vrebac, Raihan Rahman, Kristijan Krajček, Fariz Faizal (Daniel Goh 46’), Šime Žužul.
Unused subs: Haziq Roslan (GK), Jonathan Tan, Suriya Ramesh, Gaye Sameer.
Geylang XI: Zainol Gulam (GK), Anders Aplin, Yuki Ichikawa (C), Darren Teh, Umar Akhbar (Amy Recha 63’), Barry Maguire, Firdaus Kasman, Christopher van Huizen (Muhd Noor Ariff 75’), Jufri Taha, Ifwat Ismail (Fareez Farhan 46’), Shawal Anuar.
Unused subs: Hairul Syirhan (GK), Matthew Palmer, Bryan Tan, Ilhan Noor.
Young Lions 2-4 Hougang | Jalan Besar | 18 August
Jacob Mahler 59′, 90′ | Fabian Kwok 7′, Nazrul Nazari 23′, Faris Ramli 75′, Mahathir Azeman 83′
Hougang turned up the heat on DPMM with an important win against bogey side Young Lions to stay behind the leaders only on goal difference, though they have played one extra game. Fabian Kwok got them up and running by heading in Zulfahmi Arifin’s corner, before Nazrul Nazari smashed in a 25-yard screamer. Jacob Mahler briefly gave Young Lions hope with a clinical finish after being put through by Joshua Pereira, but that only served to wake Hougang up. Faris Ramli came up with a ruthless finish after Stipe Plazibat set him up and Mahathir Azeman crashed in a loose ball, rendering Mahler’s late second a mere consolation.
Facts
– Hougang beat Young Lions for the first time in six encounters, having lost the preceding five.
– Mahler scored his first career brace; he is the team’s top scorer this season now with three goals.
– Faris scored his 12th goal of the season.
– Plazibat has scored or assisted in each of his last six games.
