The Lion City Sailors were left to rue a string of missed chances that saw them drop two points in the Singapore Premier League (SPL) title race on Friday (30 August) night, as they were held to a 2-2 draw by Geylang International at the Bishan Stadium.
With league leaders BG Tampines Rovers also dropping points in a 1-1 draw against Hougang United on the same night, the Sailors would have gone top of the table with a victory over the third-placed Eagles.
But despite twice taking the lead through Bart Ramselaar and Maxime Lestienne, the hosts were pegged back by a Tomoyuki Doi brace on what was a frustrating night for the team and their Head Coach Aleksandar Ranković.
Ranko had been looking for a positive response from his side after back-to-back defeats in the ASEAN Club Championship (ACC) Shopee Cup and in the league against Albirex Niigata (S) last weekend.
However, it was Geylang that produced the first shot on goal when Ryoya Taniguchi shot straight into the hands of Izwan Mahbud, who this week celebrated his first Singapore national team call-up in over two years.
The Sailors did create chances in transition during the opening 45 minutes, but their inability to make these chances count left Ranko disappointed.
“In the first half, we had a lot of opportunities where we had four against four, or even four against three,” said the Serb. “I think we didn’t make the right decisions at those moments.
“I have a feeling that this season, we’re missing so many chances. With our experience, we should’ve controlled the match.”
The Sailors did get off the blocks quickly in the second half, as Maxime’s pass found Bart who kept his feet brilliantly before producing a smart finish for the opening goal.
The Eagles equalised nine minutes later through Doi, but the Sailors regained the lead soon after.
This time the roles were reversed, as Bart turned provider with a sublime pass with the outside of his right foot to find Maxime who rounded Geylang goalkeeper Rudy Khairullah to make it 2-1 in the 65th minute.
But with time running out, the visitors salvaged a point through Doi’s spot-kick after Lionel Tan was penalised for a challenge in the box.
A disappointed Ranko later said that while his side were the better team overall, their profligacy in front of goal ultimately cost them all three points.
“I think if we look at the whole game, we were the better team,” he said. “We had more chances and of course, I think Geylang were happy with the draw.
“When you have so many chances, you expect that you have to score. But I cannot say anything about the players, they gave a lot of effort. This is something that’s been happening now for a long time, that there are so many chances that are easier to miss than to score.”
Man of the Match Maxime echoed these sentiments.
“Honestly, I think we were the better team today but we didn’t get the result. We missed too many chances and we gave away two goals. We are a good team this year but we have to be much better when it comes to scoring and creating more opportunities,” said the Belgian, who now has 10 goals to his name this season.
After a two-week international break, the Sailors will return to league action on Saturday, 14 September, when they face Tanjong Pagar United at the Jurong East Stadium.
This will be followed five days later by the commencement of their AFC Champions League (ACL) Two campaign on home soil against China’s Zhejiang Professional.
“The positive for us is that nobody got injured and we got some players back,” said Ranko. “The only thing is that I have some players going for national team duty; that’s not really helping, but we have to shoulder on and prepare for a very difficult period.”
