Albirex stunned 2nd-placed Lion City Sailors tonight at Jurong East Stadium with a 3-1 win.
The White Swans had lost the previous 2 matches to Sailors, the last of which a 7-1 mauling at Bishan Stadium just 2 months ago.
However, the White Swans were a different proposition after Head Coach Shigetomi took over. The team was organised and patient, well aware of the Sailors' exertion in Indonesia for the Shopee Cup just 3 days ago.
Although both teams went into half time scoreless, there were some notable moments. Usually reliable goalkeeper Hassan Sunny gave the ball away to Sailors' danger man Maxime Lestienne at the 3rd minute. Luckily Lestienne pulled his shot wide to Hassan's relief.
At the half hour mark, Albirex centre back Koki Kawachi nearly scored as he headed the ball on the crossbar from a corner. 11 minutes later, Kawachi was at the thick of the action again, albeit at the opposite end, as he cleared the ball off the line from Sailor's winger Bart Ramselaar's shot.
After the break, Sailors attacked fervently for the first 15 minutes in search of the first goal. Hassan and his defence line held firm and repelled all attack.
It was Albirex's left winger, Arya Igami, who drew first blood at the 70th minute. Arya was left out of the team who played in Brunei as the regulations only allowed 6 foreigners in the team for any game, although Arya did travel to Brunei. Determined to make up for lost time, he gave Sailor's initial right back, Chris Van Huizen, a hard time. Chris was switched to the left flank at the 35th minute with veteran Hafiz Nor coming in as the right back.
However, the White Swan's lead was short-lived. 4 minutes later, Sailors equalised through a corner kick as Striker Lennart Thy out jumped left back Gareth Low to head home Lestienne's well taken corner.
The White Swans did not crumble after this setback.
Knowing that the Sailors were tired as they played 2 matches in 3 days, Albirex went on the attack. Midfielder, Yohei Otake, who had provided the assist for Arya's first goal with his determined dribbling, hit the upright a couple of minutes later. Striker, Shingo Nakano was alert to the rebound, and was upended by Sailor's midfielder Hami Syahin in the box. Upon review by VAR, referee Muhd Taqi awarded the penalty. Nakano picked himself up and scored the penalty to regain the lead for the White Swans.
In the 88th minute, Nakano put the final nail into Sailor's coffin. Nakano beat Sailor's high line offside trap from midfielder Syed Firdaus through ball, and slammed the ball into the top right corner beyond Sailor's keeper Izwan Mahbud's reach.
With the victory, the White Swans moved up to 5th place together with Hougang and Young Lions at 13 points. The next week is a bye week for the team and they will return from a well deserved break to face Geylang International on the 15th September (Sunday) at Jalan Besar Stadium.
The White Swans had lost the previous 2 matches to Sailors, the last of which a 7-1 mauling at Bishan Stadium just 2 months ago.
However, the White Swans were a different proposition after Head Coach Shigetomi took over. The team was organised and patient, well aware of the Sailors' exertion in Indonesia for the Shopee Cup just 3 days ago.
Although both teams went into half time scoreless, there were some notable moments. Usually reliable goalkeeper Hassan Sunny gave the ball away to Sailors' danger man Maxime Lestienne at the 3rd minute. Luckily Lestienne pulled his shot wide to Hassan's relief.
At the half hour mark, Albirex centre back Koki Kawachi nearly scored as he headed the ball on the crossbar from a corner. 11 minutes later, Kawachi was at the thick of the action again, albeit at the opposite end, as he cleared the ball off the line from Sailor's winger Bart Ramselaar's shot.
After the break, Sailors attacked fervently for the first 15 minutes in search of the first goal. Hassan and his defence line held firm and repelled all attack.
It was Albirex's left winger, Arya Igami, who drew first blood at the 70th minute. Arya was left out of the team who played in Brunei as the regulations only allowed 6 foreigners in the team for any game, although Arya did travel to Brunei. Determined to make up for lost time, he gave Sailor's initial right back, Chris Van Huizen, a hard time. Chris was switched to the left flank at the 35th minute with veteran Hafiz Nor coming in as the right back.
However, the White Swan's lead was short-lived. 4 minutes later, Sailors equalised through a corner kick as Striker Lennart Thy out jumped left back Gareth Low to head home Lestienne's well taken corner.
The White Swans did not crumble after this setback.
Knowing that the Sailors were tired as they played 2 matches in 3 days, Albirex went on the attack. Midfielder, Yohei Otake, who had provided the assist for Arya's first goal with his determined dribbling, hit the upright a couple of minutes later. Striker, Shingo Nakano was alert to the rebound, and was upended by Sailor's midfielder Hami Syahin in the box. Upon review by VAR, referee Muhd Taqi awarded the penalty. Nakano picked himself up and scored the penalty to regain the lead for the White Swans.
In the 88th minute, Nakano put the final nail into Sailor's coffin. Nakano beat Sailor's high line offside trap from midfielder Syed Firdaus through ball, and slammed the ball into the top right corner beyond Sailor's keeper Izwan Mahbud's reach.
With the victory, the White Swans moved up to 5th place together with Hougang and Young Lions at 13 points. The next week is a bye week for the team and they will return from a well deserved break to face Geylang International on the 15th September (Sunday) at Jalan Besar Stadium.
