Albirex Niigata (S)’s Sho Fuwa challenges Tampines Rovers’ Faris Ramli for the ball, 19 March 2023.

 

SINGAPORE, 29 JUNE 2023 – It was quite the week in the AIA Singapore Premier League with a true three-horse race opening up. Albirex Niigata (S) easily dispatched Tanjong Pagar United before holding Tampines Rovers to a 1-1 draw to remain three points ahead of the Stags, while the Lion City Sailors follow behind in third and are a further point adrift after a straightforward win over Hougang United. Geylang International climbed to fourth after two victories over Balestier Khalsa and Brunei DPMM – with the latter thrashing Young Lions few days prior. We recap all the action below…

 

Eagles rediscover wings

Balestier 2-3 Geylang | Bishan | 23 June  

Ho Wai Loon 26’, Masahiro Sugita 83’ | Yushi Yamaya 47’, Vincent Bezecourt 55’, Shahfiq Ghani 80’

 

Balestier drew first blood with Ho clinically finishing off Shuhei Hoshino’s low cross, but Geylang rallied after the break with Yamaya rifling home a firm shot inside Hairul Syirhan’s near post before Bezecourt produced a clever deft finish to put the Eagles ahead. Despite being reduced to 10 men thereafter, they found a third with Shahfiq heading in Fadli Kamis’s cross – with Sugita’s late goal proving just to be a mere consolation for the Tigers.

Facts

• The last seven games involving Balestier have yielded a total of 45 goals.
• Ho scored his fourth goal of the season – doubling his previous career-best of two in 2018 with Warriors FC.
• Shahfiq scored his first goal since August 2022 – also against Balestier, in Hougang’s 6-1 loss to the Tigers. That was also his first goal for Geylang since November 2017.
• Jordan Emaviwe made his first appearance for Balestier since December 2020.

Balestier: Hairul Syirhan (GK), Fudhil I’yadh (Syukri Noorhaizam 87’), Madhu Mohana, Darren Teh, Iqram Rifqi (Jordan Emaviwe 61’), Alen Kozar (Kian Jared Ghadessy 78’), Ryoya Taniguchi, Ho Wai Loon (C), Daniel Goh (Ignatius Ang 61’), Masahiro Sugita, Shuhei Hoshino.

Unused subs: Suffian Abdullah (GK), Syabil Hisham, Emmeric Ong, Gary Sahoo, Irfan Mika’il.

Geylang: Hafiz Ahmad (GK), Fadli Kamis, Akmal Azman, Rio Sakuma, Danish Irfan, Joshua Pereira (C) (Nazhiim Harman 90’+2), Takahiro Tezuka, Vincent Bezecourt, Yushi Yamaya, Iqbal Hussain, Naufal Azman (Shahfiq Ghani 46’, Gareth Low 90’+2).

Unused subs: Ridhwan Fikri (GK), Faisal Shahril, Nizwan Izzairie, Muthukumaran Navaretthinam, Azri Suhaili, Josh Tan.

Red Card – Danish Irfan (Geylang) 62’

 

Geylang International players celebrating a goal against Balestier Khalsa, 23 June 2023.

 

Thumping win for DPMM

DPMM 6-0 Young Lions | Jalan Besar | 24 June

Azwan Ali Rahman 2’, Andrey V0r0nkov 6’, 51’, Farshad Noor pen. 39’, Hanif Farhan 47’, Hakeme Yazid 66’

 

An Azwan Ali belter and Andrey Voronkov’s looping header within the first six minutes set DPMM on the way to victory, with Farshad adding a third from the spot before half time. After the break, they continued in the same vein with Hanif lashing in a great volley before Voronkov netted a second from outside the box. Hakeme then curled home a free kick from the edge of the box to seal a handsome win.

Facts

• DPMM struck six goals for the first time since April 2019 in a 7-1 win over Balestier.
• Young Lions’s Umayr Sujuandy and Ikram Mikhail made their SPL debuts.
• Young Lions have lost all six games since returning from the Southeast Asian Games in May and have now conceded in each of their last 78 matches since September 2019.

DPMM: Kristijan Naumovski (GK), Awangku Fakharrazi (Nazirrudin Ismail 79’), Yura Indera Putera (Azwan Saleh 73’), Ángel Martínez, Najib Tarif, Hanif Farhan, Farshad Noor, Abdul Mu’iz Sisa, Andrei Varankov (Razimie Ramlli 79’), Hakeme Yazid (Eddy Shahrol Izzat 85’), Azwan Ali Rahman (C) (Syafiq Hilmi 73’).

Unused subs: Haimie Nyaring (GK), Hendra Azam, Abdul Azizi Rahman, Helmi Zambin.

Young Lions: Umayr Sujuandy (GK), Fairuz Fazli (Ikram Mikhail 85’), Jun Kobayashi, Kieran Teo, Raoul Suhaimi, Ryu Hardy, Kan Kobayashi, Harhys Stewart (C), Andrew Aw (Haziq Kamarudin 75’), Harith Kanadi (Razimie Ramlli 67’), Syahadat Masnawi.

Unused subs: Prathip Ekamparam (GK), Rauf Erwan, Ryan Praveen.

 

Brunei DPMM’s Andrey Voronkov in action against Young Lions, 24 June 2023.

 

White Swans cruise

Albirex 4-0 Tanjong Pagar | Jurong East | 24 June

Koki Kawachi 10’, Shodai Yokoyama 43’, Seia Kunori 45’+3, 88’

 

Kawachi stabbed home at the far post after a corner was not cleared to put Albirex ahead, before Yokayama thumped one in from range and Kunori netted with an unerring shot as they led by three at half time. Kunori then poked home his second to seal an easy win.

Facts

• Albirex kept their ninth shutout of the season – a league-leading tally, one more than Tampines.
• Albirex’s Kai Yamamoto kept a clean sheet on his SPL debut.
• Kunori is now up to 12 goals for the season – the league’s joint-third top scorer alongside Tampines’ Kopitović.
• Tanjong Pagar’s Saiful Azhar, Daniel Elfian and Farid Jafiri all made their SPL debuts.

Albirex: Kai Yamamoto (GK), Keito Hariya, Shunsaku Kishimoto, Koki Kawachi, Asahi Yokokawa (C) (Ryo Takahashi 65’), Shodai Yokoyama (Nicky Melvin Singh 90’+1), Kaisei Ogawa, Shuto Komaki (Masaya Watanabe 86’), Junki Yoshimura (Riku Fukashiro 46’), Tadanari Lee (Keito Komatsu 46’), Seia Kunori.

Unused subs: Hyrulnizam Juma’at (GK), Sho Fuwa, Shakthi Vinayagavijayan, Kenji Austin.

Tanjong Pagar: Kenji Rusydi (GK), Shahrin Saberin (Raihan Rahman 46’), Shakir Hamzah (C), Akram Azman (Zulfadhmi Suzliman 69’), Naqiuddin Eunos (Farid Jafiri 89’), Tajeli Salamat, Blake Ricciuto, Mirko Šugić, Saiful Azhar (Syukri Bashir 46’), Daniel Elfian (Khairul Hairie 80’), Marin Mudražija.

Unused subs: Fashah Iskandar (GK), Azim Akbar, Naufal Ilham, Charlie Patrick Traynor.

 

Tanjong Pagar United’s Mirko Sugic in action against Albirex Niigata (S), 24 June 2023.

 

Sailors continue title hunt

Sailors 3-0 Hougang | Bishan | 25 June

Abdul Rasaq Akeem 45’+3, Adam Swandi 48’, 75’

The Sailors triumphed in their first game under the interim charge of Daan van Oudheusden and Pablo Muñiz, with Adam first teeing up Rasaq for a thumping finish before adding two goals of his own for a virtuoso performance. The midfielder then netted an emphatic piledriver from outside the box, before applying the finish to a good team move to round off the victory.

Facts

• The Sailors remain the only side unbeaten at home this season, with a record of seven wins and one draw.
• The Sailors extend their unbeaten streak to nine matches – the longest ongoing streak of any team this season.
• The Sailors kept their first clean sheet in eight matches – this was just their fourth shutout of 2023.
• Rasaq scored his eighth of the season – he remains the league’s leading local scorer, two more than Tampines’ Faris Ramli.
• Adam Swandi’s brace was his first goals and brace since November 2020 in the Sailors 6-1 win over Tanjong Pagar.
• Hougang’s Louka Vaissierre-Tan and Nasrul Pujiyono made their SPL debuts.

Sailors: Zharfan Rohaizad (GK), Hafiz Nor (C), Lionel Tan, Manuel Herrera López, Nur Adam Abdullah (Christopher van Huizen 85’), M. Anumanthan, Hami Syahin (Hariss Harun 71’), Adam Swandi, Maxime Lestienne (Shawal Anuar 76’), Diego Lopes (Haiqal Pashia 85’), Abdul Rasaq Akeem (Bernie Ibini-Isei 71’).

Unused subs: Rudy Khairullah (GK), Rusyaidi Salime, Zulqarnaen Suzliman, Bill Mamadou.

Hougang: Zaiful Nizam (GK), Nazrul Nazari (C), Irwan Shah, Kazuma Takayama, Jordan Vestering, Amir Zalani (Amy Recha 73’), Kristijan Krajček, Ajay Robson (Louka Vaissierre-Tan 58’), Sahil Suhaimi (Nasrul Pujiyono 73’), Gabriel Quak (Idraki Adnan 86’), Djordje Maksimovic.

Unused subs: Zainol Gulam (GK), Umar Akhbar, Rauf Sanizal, Raimi Ishraq, Iryan Fandi.

 

Lion City Sailors’ Adam Swandi in action against Hougang United, 25 June 2023.

 

Spoils shared between title contenders

Tampines 1-1 Albirex | Our Tampines Hub | 27 June

Boris Kopitović pen. 52’ | Tadanari Lee 79’

Hassan Sunny’s red card after tripping Kopitović outside the box gave Albirex a numerical disadvantage, as Tampines went on to take the lead through Kopitović’s penalty early in the second half. However, the reigning champions rallied and eventually drew a share of the spoils with Lee popping up at the back post to net a crucial equaliser.

Facts

• Tampines are the only team that Albirex have failed to beat this season.
• Kopitovic has 13 goals in 11 appearances against Albirex since coming to the SPL in 2020.
• Lee has now struck four goals in his last six matches.

Tampines: Syazwan Buhari (GK) (C), Irfan Najeeb, Shuya Yamashita, Shah Shahiran, Glenn Kweh, Kyoga Nakamura, Ong Yu En, Saifullah Akbar (Joel Chew 69’), Faris Ramli (Taufik Suparno 78’), Yasir Hanapi (C), Boris Kopitović.

Unused subs: Ridhuan Barudin (GK), Syed Firdaus Hassan, Adam Reefdy, Rezza Rezky, Firdaus Kasman, Miloš Zlatković, Ryaan Sanizal.

Albirex: Hassan Sunny (GK), Koki Kawachi, Shunsaku Kishimoto, Asahi Yokokawa (C), Sho Fuwa, Shodai Yokoyama (Masaya Watanabe 90’+5), Kaisei Ogawa (Ryo Takahashi 83’), Shuto Komaki (Kai Yamamoto 45’+4), Junki Yoshimura (Riku Fukashiro 46’), Tadanari Lee (Keito Komatsu 83’), Seia Kunori.

Unused subs: Nicky Melvin Singh, Zamani Zamri, Shakthi Vinayagavijayan, Kenji Austin.

Red Card – Hassan Sunny (Albirex) 45’+3

 

Albirex Niigata (S)’ s Seia Kunori in action against Tanjong Pagar United, 24 June 2023.

 

Eagles on a roll

Geylang 2-0 DPMM | Our Tampines Hub | 28 June 

Vincent Bezecourt 25’, Iqbal Hussain 51’

It was an accomplished performance by the Eagles, with Bezecourt starting and finishing a stunning breakaway move. Iqbal, who assisted the first, then scored the second as he tapped home from close range after being teed up by Yushi Yamaya. The latter then missed a penalty, but it did not matter much as Noor Ali’s side picked up a second straight win.

Facts

• Iqbal equalled his best-ever scoring seasons – four in 2014 with Young Lions, as well as in 2016 and 2018 with Hougang.
• Geylang kept just their third clean sheet of the season.

Geylang: Hafiz Ahmad (GK), Fadli Kamis, Akmal Azman (Shahfiq Ghani 81’), Rio Sakuma, Gareth Low (Naufal Azman 87’), Joshua Pereira (C), Takahiro Tezuka, Vincent Bezecourt, Yushi Yamaya, Arshad Shamim (Nazhiim Harman 90’+4), Iqbal Hussain.

Unused subs: Rudy Khairullah (GK), Faisal Shahril, Nizwan Izzairie, Syady Sufwan, Azri Suhaili, Josh Tan.

DPMM: Kristijan Naumovski (GK), Awangku Fakharrazi (Abdul Azizi Rahman 63’), Yura Indera Putera, Ángel Martínez, Najib Tarif, Hanif Farhan, Farshad Noor, Abdul Mu’iz Sisa (Helmi Zambin 63’), Andrei Varankov, Hakeme Yazid, Azwan Ali Rahman (C).

Unused subs: Haimie Nyaring (GK), Azwan Saleh, Hendra Azam, Syafiq Hilmi, Eddy Shahrol Izzat, Razimie Rammli, Nazirrudin Ismail.

 

Geylang International’s Mohamed Iqbal in action against Balestier Khalsa, 23 June 2023.