Supersub Tadanari Lee came to the rescue of the White Swans, not once, but twice, in this evening's match against Geylang International.
Lee had recovered a month earlier than scheduled from a collarbone fracture and had scored 2 goals in 3 substitute appearances. His minutes had also been carefully managed by the team to not more than 30 minutes per game.
However, his services were called on slightly earlier in this game at the 57th minute when Vincent Bezecourt, the Eagle's playmaker took the lead for Geylang when he finished a well worked move in the 51st minute.
Within 30 seconds of coming on, Lee played a one-two with Ilhan Fandi and laid on the assist for Ilhan for his 12th goal of the season.
However, captain and centre back Jun Kobayashi was adjudged to have pulled down Geylang striker Sime Zuzul in the box, and Zuzul scored the resulting penalty in the the 71st minute.
The White Swans threw the kitchen sink at the Eagles in search of the equaliser. Lee duly delivered with virtually the last kick of the game when he reacted quickest from a long ball out of defence to give the White Swans a precious point in its title pursuit.
The 2 points dropped meant Albirex are now 3 points behind Lion City Sailors with 8 more games to go for the season. The White Swans cannot afford to drop any more points starting with the last of the 3 home game series against Tampines this coming Friday at Jurong East Stadium.
Detail of the match is here
Lee had recovered a month earlier than scheduled from a collarbone fracture and had scored 2 goals in 3 substitute appearances. His minutes had also been carefully managed by the team to not more than 30 minutes per game.
However, his services were called on slightly earlier in this game at the 57th minute when Vincent Bezecourt, the Eagle's playmaker took the lead for Geylang when he finished a well worked move in the 51st minute.
Within 30 seconds of coming on, Lee played a one-two with Ilhan Fandi and laid on the assist for Ilhan for his 12th goal of the season.
However, captain and centre back Jun Kobayashi was adjudged to have pulled down Geylang striker Sime Zuzul in the box, and Zuzul scored the resulting penalty in the the 71st minute.
The White Swans threw the kitchen sink at the Eagles in search of the equaliser. Lee duly delivered with virtually the last kick of the game when he reacted quickest from a long ball out of defence to give the White Swans a precious point in its title pursuit.
The 2 points dropped meant Albirex are now 3 points behind Lion City Sailors with 8 more games to go for the season. The White Swans cannot afford to drop any more points starting with the last of the 3 home game series against Tampines this coming Friday at Jurong East Stadium.
Detail of the match is here
