Albirex stays on top of the league table with a hard fought 2-4 victory over the Young Lions at the Jalan Besar Stadium this evening.
Head Coach Yoshinaga was aware of the exertions of his charges over the past 2 matches in this week, and he opted to make 4 changes to the starting line-up.
Striker Keito Komatsu and winger Riku Fukashiro got the nod, while Nicky Melvin Singh made his first start since he returned from the SEA Games. 18-year old Kai Yamamoto started in goal as Hassan Sunny was serving the first game of his 2-game suspension following his red card in the last game against Tampines.
Floodgates were thought to have opened early when Centre Back Koki Kawachi bundled in a corner kick from Shodai Yokoyama at the far post in the 3rd minute. However, it was not until the 33rd minute that the White Swans got the second goal.
Left winger Shuto Komaki made a cross field pass to Singh. Singh shifted the ball to his left to create space and unleashed a left-footed curler into the far corner. 0-2 and the team went into wild celebratory mood for Singh, as Singh would be enlisted for National Service 3 days later. This would be his last game playing with his team mates before returning to the White Swans in 2 years time.
Komatsu extended the lead just before half time as Young Lions goalkeeper Aizil Yazid spilled Sho Fuwa's shot into his path.
The White Swans led 0-3 going into the break.
Yoshinaga made further changes in the 2nd half. He replaced Komatsu and Fukashiro with the 2 regular starters of Tadanari Lee and Seia Kunori; and ran a surprise with 19 year old U-21 captain Hilman replacing Kaisei Ogawa at the start of the 2nd half. At the 60th minute, 19 year old defender Kenji Austin made his debut in place of Komaki.
【#54 Kenji Austin】
Young Lions got a goal back in the 64th minute when Ryu Hardy scored a wonderful volley outside the penalty box. The goal and the changes made by the White Swans disrupted the flow of the game, and Young Lions began to have the better chances. However, Yamamoto excelled in goal as he kept out many goal bound shots by Young Lions.
Despite Young Lion's possession, Yokoyama effectively killed off the game in the 88th minute. Zamani, who replaced Singh in the 68th minute, started the move on the left wing and passed the ball to Kunori in the midfield. Kunori made a no-look pass on his right to Yokoyama. Yokoyama went past Young Lions right back Raoul Suhaimi easily and thumped the ball into the net via the crossbar. 1-4, game over? No.
【#14 Shodai Yokoyama】
In the 93rd minute, Austin tripped Young Lions winger Farhan Zulkifli in the box and the referee pointed to the penalty spot immediately. Ex-White Swan Kan Kobayashi stepped up to take the penalty but the excellent Yamamoto made the save. However, from the resulting corner, another ex-White Swan, Jun Kobayashi headed in the corner to make the score more respectable at 2-4.
It was effectively, the last kick, or rather last header, of the game, as the referee blew for full time before the restart.
The White Swans will now have a week's rest and will return to Jalan Besar Stadium next Saturday, 8 July to take on DPMM Brunei FC. Kickoff is 6pm.
Match Detail
Head Coach Yoshinaga was aware of the exertions of his charges over the past 2 matches in this week, and he opted to make 4 changes to the starting line-up.
Striker Keito Komatsu and winger Riku Fukashiro got the nod, while Nicky Melvin Singh made his first start since he returned from the SEA Games. 18-year old Kai Yamamoto started in goal as Hassan Sunny was serving the first game of his 2-game suspension following his red card in the last game against Tampines.
Floodgates were thought to have opened early when Centre Back Koki Kawachi bundled in a corner kick from Shodai Yokoyama at the far post in the 3rd minute. However, it was not until the 33rd minute that the White Swans got the second goal.
Left winger Shuto Komaki made a cross field pass to Singh. Singh shifted the ball to his left to create space and unleashed a left-footed curler into the far corner. 0-2 and the team went into wild celebratory mood for Singh, as Singh would be enlisted for National Service 3 days later. This would be his last game playing with his team mates before returning to the White Swans in 2 years time.
Komatsu extended the lead just before half time as Young Lions goalkeeper Aizil Yazid spilled Sho Fuwa's shot into his path.
The White Swans led 0-3 going into the break.
Yoshinaga made further changes in the 2nd half. He replaced Komatsu and Fukashiro with the 2 regular starters of Tadanari Lee and Seia Kunori; and ran a surprise with 19 year old U-21 captain Hilman replacing Kaisei Ogawa at the start of the 2nd half. At the 60th minute, 19 year old defender Kenji Austin made his debut in place of Komaki.
【#54 Kenji Austin】
Young Lions got a goal back in the 64th minute when Ryu Hardy scored a wonderful volley outside the penalty box. The goal and the changes made by the White Swans disrupted the flow of the game, and Young Lions began to have the better chances. However, Yamamoto excelled in goal as he kept out many goal bound shots by Young Lions.
Despite Young Lion's possession, Yokoyama effectively killed off the game in the 88th minute. Zamani, who replaced Singh in the 68th minute, started the move on the left wing and passed the ball to Kunori in the midfield. Kunori made a no-look pass on his right to Yokoyama. Yokoyama went past Young Lions right back Raoul Suhaimi easily and thumped the ball into the net via the crossbar. 1-4, game over? No.
【#14 Shodai Yokoyama】
In the 93rd minute, Austin tripped Young Lions winger Farhan Zulkifli in the box and the referee pointed to the penalty spot immediately. Ex-White Swan Kan Kobayashi stepped up to take the penalty but the excellent Yamamoto made the save. However, from the resulting corner, another ex-White Swan, Jun Kobayashi headed in the corner to make the score more respectable at 2-4.
It was effectively, the last kick, or rather last header, of the game, as the referee blew for full time before the restart.
The White Swans will now have a week's rest and will return to Jalan Besar Stadium next Saturday, 8 July to take on DPMM Brunei FC. Kickoff is 6pm.
Match Detail
