SINGAPORE, 10 MARCH 2025 – The Lion City Sailors’ lead at the top of the Singapore Premier League table was cut to seven points as they dropped points to Hougang United, while BG Tampines Rovers thrashed Albirex Niigata (S) to whittle down the gap. Elsewhere, Balestier Khalsa edged Geylang International in a four-goal thriller while Young Lions and Brunei DPMM played out a draw. We recap all the action here…
Tigers spoil Doi’s special night
Geylang 3-4 Balestier | Jalan Besar | 7 March
Vincent Bezecourt 45+1′, Tomoyuki Doi 77′, Madhu Mohana O.G. 85′ | Kodai Tanaka 25′, Keito Hariya O.G. 60′, Harith Kanadi 67′, Ignatius Ang 90+9′
After Bezecourt’s brilliant curler from outside the box cancelled out Tanaka’s deft opener for Balestier, the Tigers went back ahead with Hariya unfortunately diverting into his own net before Harith’s speculative drive went beyond Rudy Khairullah’s reach to make it 3-1. Geylang rallied, with Doi lashing one in from the edge of the area before Madhu scored an own goal to restore parity. However, Balestier would steal the points late on, with Ang at the right place at the right time to finish off Tanaka’s cross.
Facts
- A total of 33 goals have been scored across the five meetings between both sides this season in all domestic competitions.
- Doi broke the record for the most SPL strikes in a season with his 39th, surpassing Mirko Grabovac’s 2001 tally of 38 goals.
- Harith scored just his second-ever career goal – both have come against Geylang.
- Ang has now levelled with BG Tampines Rovers’ Faris Ramli as the league’s joint-second highest local goalscorer with nine goals.
Geylang: Rudy Khairullah (GK), Akmal Azman (Naufal Azman 72’), Rio Sakuma (C), Keito Hariya, Shakir Hamzah, Huzaifah Aziz (Naqiuddin Eunos 53’), Takahiro Tezuka, Iqbal Hussain (Saifullah Akbar 60’), Vincent Bezecourt, Iqbal Hussain, Ryoya Taniguchi, Tomoyuki Doi.
Unused subs: Hairul Syirhan (GK), Faisal Shahril, Ahmad Syahir, Raiyan Noor, Hud Ismail, Nur Ikhsanuddin.
Balestier: Ho Tung Han (GK), Fudhil I’yadh (Elijah Lim 90’+3), Abdil Qayyim (Sheikh Faris 73’), Madhu Mohana (C), Cher Garang, Harith Kanadi, Darren Teh, Jared Gallagher, Riku Fukashiro, Masahiro Sugita (Ignatius Ang 53’), Kodai Tanaka.
Unused subs: Martyn Mun (GK), Hafiz Ahmad (GK), Emmeric Ong, N Sakthivelchezhian, Lin Ze Hao, Merrick Tan.
Spoils shared at Jalan Besar
Young Lions 1-1 DPMM | Jalan Besar | 8 March
Danish Qayyum 26′ | Gabriel Gama 78′
Qayyum lashed Young Lions ahead with a brilliant volley off Fairuz Fazli’s cross, but DPMM would earn a share of the spoils in the second half with Gama bundling home the rebound after Dāvis Ikaunieks’s shot was parried into his path.
Facts
- Both sides extended their unbeaten streak in all domestic competitions to three matches.
- This is already Qayyum’s best-ever scoring season with three goals, surpassing the two which he chalked up in 2022.
Young Lions: Umayr Sujuandy (GK), Aqil Yazid (Andrew Aw 65’), Bill Mamadou, Ryaan Sanizal (C) (Fathullah Rahmat 41’), Raoul Suhaimi, Jun Kobayashi, Kaisei Ogawa, Fairuz Fazli (Ryu Hardy 85’), Danish Qayyum (Ethan Pinto 65’), Kan Kobayashi, Amir Syafiz.
Unused subs: Firman Nabil GK), Syafi Nur Hilman, Wong Ngang Haang, Ryan Vishal, Danial Crichton.
DPMM: Kristijan Naumovski (GK), Nazry Aiman, Nurikhwan Othman, Damir Muminović, Najib Tarif, Abdul Hariz Herman (Azwan Saleh 72’), Hariz Danial Khallidden (Faturrahman Embran 42’), Gabriel Gama, Azwan Ali Rahman (C), Miguel Oliveira, Dāvis Ikaunieks.
Unused subs: Haimie Nyaring (GK), Ishyra Asmin (GK), Syafiq Safiuddin, Hanif Hamir, Naim Tarif, Wafi Aminuddin.
Stags stay in the hunt
Albirex 0-4 BG Tampines | Jurong East | 9 March
Itsuki Enomoto 28′, Arya Igami Tarhani 48′, Seia Kunori 53′, Miloš Zlatković 80′
There was no way back for Albirex after Enomoto had nodded BG Tampines ahead in the first half, as Igami then fired home a deflected shot before Kunori finished off Enomoto’s low cross to make it 3-0 shortly after the break. Zlatković then rounded off a convincing victory with a firm header off Kunori’s cross.
Facts
- BG Tampines have now scored in 24 out of 25 SPL matches this season.
- Both of Igami’s goals for BG Tampines this season have come against his parent club Albirex – one in the Singapore Cup and one in the league.
- Zlatković is the league’s top scoring defender with six goals.
Albirex: Hassan Sunny (GK), Ryhan Stewart, Koki Kawachi, Stevia Egbus Mikuni, Junki Yoshimura, Naoki Yoshioka, Syed Firdaus Hassan (C), Haziq Kamarudin (Arshad Shamim 62’), Yohei Otake (Daniel Goh 73’), Maeda Taiki (Amy Recha 81’), Shingo Nakano.
Unused subs: Dylan Pereira (GK), Syukri Bashir, Syahrul Sazali, Gareth Low, Hilman Norhisam, Kenji Austin.
BG Tampines: Syazwan Buhari (GK) (C), Irfan Najeeb (Amirul Adli 66’), Shuya Yamashita, Dylan Fox, Miloš Zlatković, Shah Shahiran, Kyoga Nakamura (Yasir Hanapi 83’), Glenn Kweh (Faris Ramli 66’), Arya Igami Tarhani (Joel Chew 57’), Itsuki Enomoto (Taufik Suparno 83’), Seia Kunori.
Unused subs: Ridhuan Barudin (GK), Kegan Phang, Rae Peh, Kieran Tan.
Sailors frustrated by Cheetahs
Hougang 1-1 Sailors | Jalan Besar | 9 March
Shodai Yokoyama 28′ | Maxime Lestienne 21′
Lestienne fired the Sailors ahead after some superb combination play, but Hougang grabbed a share of the spoils through Yokoyama – who fired home from the edge of the box after dancing past a couple of challenges.
Facts
- Hougang have now lost just one out of their last 11 SPL home matches.
- The Sailors’ seven-match SPL winning streak came to an end, but they still extended their unbeaten streak to 12 league matches.
- Sailors’ Ali Alrina became the first Syrian to feature in the SPL.
Hougang: Zaiful Nizam (GK), Tajeli Salamat, Nazhiim Harman, Daniel Henrique, Jordan Vestering (Danish Irfan 74’), Shahdan Sulaiman, Ismail Salihović (Ratthathammanun Deeying 74’), Nazrul Nazari (C) (Farhan Zulkifli 74’), Shodai Yokoyama, Stjepan Plazonja, Dejan Račić.
Unused subs: Kenji Rusydi (GK), Anders Aplin, Hazzuwan Halim, Gabriel Quak, Zamani Zamri, Tan-Vaissierre Louka.
Sailors: Izwan Mahbud (GK), Akram Azman (Hafiz Nor 76’), Ali Alrina, Bailey Wright (C), Toni Datković, Christopher van Huizen (Abdul Rasaq Akeem 76’), Maxime Lestienne, Hami Syahin (Anumanthan Kumar 56’), Song Uiyoung, Bart Ramselaar (Shawal Anuar 63’), Lennart Thy.
Unused subs: Adib Nur Hakim (GK), Zharfan Rohaizad (GK), Hariss Harun, Haiqal Pashia, Nathan Mao.
