A week of change off the pitch had little impact on matters on it, as the Lion City Sailors returned to Singapore Premier League (SPL) action with a composed 2-0 victory over the Young Lions at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Sunday (8 February) night.
Following a successful spell of almost three years at the helm, Aleksandar Ranković departed the Sailors on Friday, with Varo Moreno stepping in as interim head coach.
First-half goals from Bailey Wright and Lennart Thy gave Varo the perfect start to his tenure, as the Sailors registered a club-record ninth consecutive SPL win in a single season.
“The most important thing for us was to create scoring chances, and I think we had many in this match,” said Varo, who holds a UEFA A Licence. “After the changes this week, the crucial thing was to win and continue our 100 percent record, and we managed to do that.”
The Sailors started on the front foot and nearly took an early lead in the eighth minute, when Kyoga Nakamura’s corner was headed just over the bar by Toni Datković.
Four minutes later, however, Toni’s centre-back partner Bailey was left unmarked from another quality Kyoga delivery, and the Australian made no mistake in front of goal to give the Sailors the lead.
It was Bailey’s fourth SPL goal of the campaign, having also found the net against the Young Lions earlier this season in October.
“Every game I play, I’ll do my best for the team. I’m enjoying my football here,” said Bailey, who was duly adjudged Man of the Match. “It’s nice to score, but I value the clean sheet more. It’s a real collective effort to work hard for that.”
“If we keep clean sheets as a defensive unit, we know we’ll always have a chance to score. When I score, it’s just a bonus.”
Indeed, the Sailors’ backline was rarely troubled as they secured their fifth clean sheet in the league this season. And in truth, it was the Sailors who looked capable of running away with the game in the first half.
Anderson Lopes and Tsiy Ndenge both went close to doubling the lead before a moment of route-one football caught the Young Lions defence off guard in the 35th minute.
Ivan Sušak’s long punt forward found Lennart, and the Sailors forward finished with aplomb for his seventh SPL goal of the season to keep pace in the Golden Boot race with BG Tampines Rovers’ Hide Higashikawa, who has the same number of strikes.
There was a brief moment of danger for the Young Lions soon after, when on-loan goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud’s attempted quick throw led to the Sailors regaining possession in a dangerous position, but Kyoga’s eventual effort was cleared off the line.
The Sailors took a two-goal advantage into the break, and judging by the opening 45 minutes, it is business as usual despite the change in Head Coach.
“Honestly, we didn’t have much time to do something different,” admitted Varo, who previously worked as a Málaga youth team coach. “I don’t think we should change a lot because Ranko did quite a good job. We’ll have to wait and see what happens.”
The second half followed a similar pattern, with the Sailors pushing for more goals. Diogo Costa’s free-kick was met by Lennart’s header in the 53rd minute but flew over the bar, before Lennart turned provider with a cut-back for Diogo, who was unable to test Izwan.
Tsiy then tried his luck in the 69th minute, but his effort drifted wide, before Varo introduced Nur Adam Abdullah, Bart Ramselaar, Hami Syahin and Luka Adžić from the bench as the Sailors comfortably saw out the contest.
After the full time whistle, Bailey, who was Ranko’s first signing at the club back in July 2023, reflected on the Serb’s tenure while also adding that the club is now set to make a fresh start in a new era.
“Everyone knows the news of Ranko leaving. It’s been a change at the club, and we can’t thank him enough for what he’s done for us over the last few years,” said Bailey.
“It’s now a new chapter at the club, and today was the start of that. We got the three points with a good performance, and credit to the Young Lions for working hard and making it competitive.”
Next up, the Sailors will face seventh-placed Tanjong Pagar United at the same venue this coming Sunday (15 February) night.
Pride in clean sheets remains a driving force for Bailey, and it is a challenge he will relish against the Jaguars, with Noh Alam Shah’s side having scored in five consecutive league matches.
“From now until the end of the season, we want to continue being the strongest team in Singapore, make more history, and go on to win the league again,” he added.
