Albirex Niigata(S) signaled their intentions for their first ever S-League title by demolishing fellow title contenders Etoile FC and Home United FC at their own backyard.
After three weeks without any competitive action, Albirex Niigata(S) visited the Queenstown Stadium, to take on reigning champions Etoile FC on Wednesday evening. The host had the brighter of starts, as they took a two goal lead after 19 minutes on the clock.
Sirina Camara and Aly Doumbouya struck in the space of a minute, to leave the Japanese side shell-shocked, while still trying to find the rhythm in their play. An injury to Yosuke Saito in the build up to Doumbouya’s goal allowed Bruno Castanheira to come on, and that substitution; which will take some time for the 448 fans that turned up at Queenstown Stadium to forget, was definitely a blessing in disguise.
Castanheira was in the thick of things upon coming on and almost made an instant impact when a snap shot by the half-Brazilian was deflected just wide. Tatsuro Inui then created for Shotaro Ihata to tap home from close range after 29 minutes.
Bruno Castanheira
Image: Albirex Niigata FC Singapore Facebook Page
As it seemed destined that Etoile will go into the break with a one goal lead, “Flying Kuni” Kunihiro Yamashita dived in bravely at the challenge of an Etoile defender to score a diving header from a cross by Skipper Shimpei Sakurada from the left.
Five minutes after the restart, Castanheira once again showed his trickery down the right flanks and this time, he got the better of Pierre Nlate to get inside the box. Andrea Damiani hacked Castanheira down and referee Sukhbir Singh showed no hesitation in awarding the spot kick to Albirex. Tatsuro Inui stepped up to send the Etoile goalkeeper the wrong way for a 3-2 lead – the first time in the game.
It was probably the “Bruno Castanheira show” as the winger created another goal in quick succession for Ihata to finish home from close range to make it 4-2, before dazzling past the entire Etoile backline to smash home a beautifully taken fifth goal on the night for the White Swans.
Shotaro Ihata completed his hat trick when he beat the offside trap to perfection, and he lobbed the delightful ball from midfield over the onrushing Goalkeeper to send the Japanese fans in the stands wild.
Tatusro Inui completed the rout with a perfectly executed free kick from 20 yards out, leaving Antonin Trilles stranded as the Stars were left to rue what went wrong.
Albirex Niigata(S) head coach praised the entire team for a collective effort by not wanting to select a Man of The Match for the game. It is understandably so when you have a substitute who came on to create a hat trick of goals, and at the same time, there was also a player who was on a hat trick for the night.
“I will let the media decide who the Man of the Match is. As far as I am concerned, the whole team work well as a unit and the result reflected a performance due to hard work by each and every single player that played.” said head coach Koichi Sugiyama, former Urawa Red Diamonds defender.
If the 7-2 thumping of Etoile was not enough to justify the Japanese team’s credentials for the title, the Japanese outfit put up another flawless performance three days later at the Bishan Stadium by routing Home United 4-nil to register another scalp on another giant team.
The Japanese were ruthless in the way they dominated possession in the middle of the pitch against the protectors. Their “pass-and-move” game plan tired the Protectors quickly and Bruno Castanheira combined with Tatusro Inui for the latter to slot home from close range for the White Swans to take a one-goal lead at the break.
Ryuta Hayashi scored a “gifted goal” all the way from the half way line when Home United’s goalkeeper Lionel Lewis was caught in no-man’s land after failing to connect with the incoming ball under the pressure of Tatsuro Inui to put the White Swans 2-0 up.
Sufian Anuar, a second half substitution for Home United, forced Japanese goalkeeper Yoshito Matsushita into point blank saves in no lesser than three occasions with some brilliant individual efforts on goal.
However, Home United could not find a way past the in-form goalkeeper in the Albirex goal and conceded another two late goals to Shimpei Sakurada and Kunihiro Yamashita to allow the White Swans to seal a comfortable 4-nil win on the night.
Home United head coach Lee Lim Saeng who was away for a refresher coaching course in the United Kingdom for the past 10 days told VOXSPORTS that he will take full responsibility for the loss, and will be eager to bounce back from this defeat.
“Albirex are a very good team”
“We have five players away with the National Team for the past three weeks. You could see that they are tired.”
“Some of the players tried, but some of the players didn’t put in enough effort.”
“It is my responsibility to bring back the confidence in the boys and I am sure I will be able to do it.” Said the former Korean World Cupper
In other S-League matches in the week, Hougang United beat Etoile FC 2-1 in a match which was rescheduled due to the infamous brawl in May. Vitor Borges put the home side ahead after some great work down the flanks by Jordan Webb. Selim Kaabi equalized for the French, but their joy lasted only two minutes as Azhar Sairudin sealed all three points for the Cheetahs.
Table-toppers Tampines Rovers scrapped past a battling Tanjong Pagar 1-nil thanks to Aleksandar Duric’s 20th goal of the season. Duric collected the ball from Firdaus Kasman and turned past two defenders before slotting home to push the Stags onto the top of the ladder in the S-League.
Geylang United nicked a comeback win in a five-goal thriller against Balestier Khalsa. The tigers took the lead through Kim Young Kwang and Andrew Tan. Hafiz Rahim, Syed Fadhil and Yuto Nakano scored in the space of 16 minutes to make sure Geylang United continued their fine form of late to remain on sixth position on the ladder. The eagles are now four points ahead of the Cheetahs who occupy seventh spot.
Courts Young Lions were the victims of a deflected goal by Korean Jung Hee Bong in the 81st minute of the game when they hosted Gombak United at the Jalan Besar Stadium. The Young Lions could have nicked a point at least, if not for their wasteful finishing in front of goal. The bulls also had their goalkeeper Zaiful Nizam to thank as the former National Football Academy Trainee tip a goal bound free kick by Fazli Ayob away in the dying moments in the match.
4th goal celebration by SAFFC
Image: Andrew JK Tan
Woodlands Wellington was crushed 7-nil by Singapore Armed Forces FC at Choa Chu Kang Stadium in the last game of the week. Singapore Striker Fazrul Nawaz opened the scoring with just 55 seconds on the clock. Taisuke Akiyoshi and Mislav Karoglan each bagged a brace while the misery was completed when Darrel Tan scored an own-goal and substitute Indra Sahdan scored his fifth goal of the season.
Tampines Rovers stay on top of the ladder with 54 points after 24 games. Home United remain a point behind at 53, while Albirex Niigata(S) charged up to third with 52 points despite playing a game more than fourth placed SAFFC who are on 50 points.
Fixtures in the coming week:
12 September:
Etoile vs Hougang United (Queenstown Stadium)
13 September:
Gombak vs Geylang United (Jurong West Stadium)
14 September:
Balestier Khalsa vs SAFFC (Toa Payoh)
Courts Young Lions vs Albirex Niigata(S) (Jalan Besar Stadium)
15 September:
Tanjong Pagar United vs Home United (Clementi Stadium)
16 September:
Woodlands Wellington vs Tampines Rovers (Jalan Besar Stadium)
Match will be televised live on StarHub Preview Channel 101 and Channel 201
17 September:
Hougang United vs Courts Young Lions (Hougang Stadium)
All matches kicks off at 1930hrs, unless otherwise stated.
