SINGAPORE, 27 JANUARY 2025 – The Singapore Premier League (SPL) title race took another twist with Lion City Sailors edging Geylang International to go six points clear at the top, while nearest rivals BG Tampines Rovers lost further ground after a shock defeat to Hougang United. Elsewhere, Young Lions overcame Balestier Khalsa to climb to seventh while bottom side Tanjong Pagar United thrashed Brunei DPMM for their first win in 14 matches. We recap all the action here…
Cheetahs’ renaissance continues
BG Tampines 2-4 Hougang | Bishan | 25 January
Taufik Suparno 11′, Seia Kunori 58′ | Stjepan Plazonja 7′, Zulfahmi Arifin 20′, Gabriel Quak 88′, Dejan Račić pen. 90+3′
Plazonja’s opportunistic opener for Hougang was quickly cancelled out by Taufik Suparno’s fine finish inside Zaiful Nizam’s near post, but the Cheetahs quickly retook the lead through Zulfahmi’s stunning 30-yard freekick. BG Tampines would equalise a second time with Kunori applying the finishing touch to a flowing team move, but Hougang went back ahead with super-sub Quak finishing off from close range before Račić converted from the spot to complete a famous win.
Facts
- Hougang made it two wins out of two under interim Head Coach Robert Eziakor.
- Zulfahmi netted his first SPL goal since April 2022 in Hougang’s 2-1 win over Young Lions.
- Racic has now scored in each of his last four outings, taking his season tally up to 18 goals.
BG Tampines: Syazwan Buhari (GK) (C), Irfan Najeeb (Amirul Adli 70’), Shuya Yamashita, Dylan Fox, Miloš Zlatković, Shah Shahiran, Kyoga Nakamura, Glenn Kweh (Nanthiphat Chaiman 82’), Joel Chew (Arya Igami Tarhani 70’), Taufik Suparno (Yasir Hanapi 76’), Seia Kunori.
Unused subs: Ridhuan Barudin (GK), Jared Gallagher, Kegan Phang, Rae Peh, Kieran Tan.
Hougang: Zaiful Nizam (GK), Tajeli Salamat, Jovan Mugoša, Daniel Henrique, Jordan Vestering (Ismail Salihović 64’), Zulfahmi Arifin, Shahdan Sulaiman (Danish Irfan 90’+4), Nazrul Nazari (C), Shodai Yokoyama (Farhan Zulkifli 64’), Stjepan Plazonja (Gabriel Quak 85’), Dejan Račić.
Unused subs: Kenji Rusydi (GK), Hazzuwan Halim, Justin Hui, Nazhiim Harman, Zamani Zamri.
Young Lions regain bite
Balestier 2-3 Young Lions | Bishan | 25 January
Anton Fase 48′, Ignatius Ang 53′ | Kan Kobayashi 22′, Amir Syafiz 38′, Ethan Pinto 85′
Young Lions led by two at the break, with Kobayashi exchanging passes with Pinto en route to scoring the opener before Amir benefitted from Jonan Tan’s through pass to double their lead. Balestier rallied thereafter, with Fase netting a brilliant solo effort before Ang curled home to restore parity. However, the away side stole the three points late on with Pinto latching on to Danish Qayyum’s lofted pass to finish beyond Hafiz Ahmad.
Facts
- Balestier has now lost three straight matches and won just one of their last eight matches.
- Ang took his goal tally up to seven for the season – he has never netted more than three goals in a single campaign prior to this.
- Pinto scored his first-ever professional goal.
Balestier: Hafiz Ahmad (GK), Darren Teh (Reycredo Bukit 87’), Abdil Qaiyyim (Elijah Lim 87’), Madhu Mohana, Harith Kanadi (Fudhil I’yadh 46’), Alen Kozar (C), Masahiro Sugita, Riku Fukashiro, Ignatius Ang (Amiruldin Asraf 77’), Anton Fase, Kodai Tanaka.
Unused subs: Wayne Chew (GK), Emmeric Ong, N Sakthivelchezhian, Sheikh Faris, Merrick Tan.
Young Lions: Aizil Yazid (GK), Fairuz Fazli, Jun Kobayashi, Aqil Yazid, Fairuz Fazli, Raoul Suhaimi (C) (Ryu Hardy 78’), Kan Kobayashi, Kaisei Ogawa, Jonan Tan (Ikram Mikhail 59’), Ethan Pinto, Andrew Aw (Syafi Nur Hilman 88’), Amir Syafiz (Danish Qayyum 78’).
Unused subs: Rauf Erwan (GK), Danish Haqimi, Nyqil Iyyan, Ikmal Hazlan, Ryan Vishal.
Jaguars get a lift-off
Tanjong Pagar 3-0 DPMM | Jurong East | 26 January
Syahadat Masnawi 21’, Salif Cissé 79′, Izrafil Yusof 90’+9
Cissé set up Syahadat for a clinical opener, before going on to score the second through a brilliantly dinked finish past Kristijan Naumovski. Super-sub Izrafil then benefitted from Sahil Suhaimi’s defence-splitting pass to net the third and seal an emphatic win for the Jaguars.
Facts
- Tanjong Pagar won for the first time in 14 league outings and kept their first clean sheet in 45 competitive matches.
- Two out of Tanjong Pagar’s three wins this season came against DPMM.
- Tanjong Pagar won by three goals or more for the first time since October 2022.
- Izrafil scored on his professional debut.
Tanjong Pagar: Matthew Silva (GK) (C), Syed Akmal, Timur Talipov, Faizal Roslan, Zenivio Mota, Rezza Rezky (Izrafil Yusof 87’), Azim Akbar (Sahil Suhaimi 62’), Shodai Nishikawa, Tomoki Wada, Syahadat Masnawi (Raihan Rahman 72’), Salif Cissé.
Unused subs: Prathip Ekamparam (GK), Riki Kimura (GK), Farid Jafiri, Umar Akhbar, Saiful Azhar, Marcus Mosses.
DPMM: Kristijan Naumovski (GK), Syafiq Safiuddin (Hariz Danial Khallidden 80’), Yura Indera Putera, Damir Muminović, Najib Tarif (Nazirrudin Ismail 80’), Nurikhwan Othman, Miguel Oliveira, Farshad Noor (Azwan Saleh 43’), Azwan Ali Rahman (C) (Abdul Hariz Harman 84’), Gabriel Gama, Dāvis Ikaunieks.
Unused subs: Haimie Nyaring (GK), Hanif Farhan, Faturrahman Embran, Nazry Aiman, Wafi Aminuddin.
Sailors displaying title credentials
Geylang 1-2 Sailors | Jalan Besar | 26 January
Vincent Bezecourt 13’ | Toni Datković 30′, Shawal Anuar 56’
Bezecourt put Geylang ahead early on through a stunning effort from the edge of the box, but the Sailors rallied with Datković heading home Maxime Lestienne’s in swinging corner to equalise. Shawal then latched on to Lennart Thy’s flick-on to decide a closely-fought affair.
Facts
- The Sailors have won their last four SPL matches and are unbeaten in their last eight league outings.
- Lestienne picked up his 20th assist of the season – a league-leading statistic which is seven more that of nearest challenger, Ryoya Taniguchi from Geylang.
- Geylang’s Tomoyuki Doi drew a blank for just the fifth time this season.
Geylang: Rudy Khairullah (GK), Joshua Pereira (C) (Iqbal Hussain 79’), Rio Sakuma, Keito Hariya, Shakir Hamzah, Huzaifah Aziz (Saifullah Akbar 66’), Takahiro Tezuka, Naqiuddin Eunos (Akmal Azman 58’), Vincent Bezecourt, Ryoya Taniguchi, Tomoyuki Doi.
Unused subs: Hairul Syirhan (GK), Naufal Azman, Faisal Shahril, Ahmad Syahir, Hud Ismail.
Sailors: Izwan Mahbud (GK), Hami Syahin (Hafiz Nor 79’), Lionel Tan (Hariss Harun 66’), Bailey Wright (C), Toni Datković, Diogo Costa (Christopher van Huizen 66’), Anumanthan Kumar, Song Uiyoung, Maxime Lestienne (Abdul Rasaq Akeem 79’), Shawal Anuar, Lennart Thy (Bart Ramselaar 61’).
Unused subs: Zharfan Rohaizad (GK), Bill Mamadou, Haiqal Pashia, Akram Azman.
