The Lion City Sailors secured a club-record 10th consecutive Singapore Premier League (SPL) victory as they swept aside 10-man Tanjong Pagar United 7-0 at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Sunday (15 February) night.
Bart Ramselaar led the charge with a brace, while Anderson Lopes, Shawal Anuar, Akram Azman and Lennart Thy also found the net as the Sailors delivered a commanding performance from start to finish.
The result, which came a day after the club marked their sixth anniversary, set a new benchmark for successive league wins, and interim head coach Varo Moreno was full of praise for his side.
“I’m very proud of the boys, not only because of the result but also because of their attitude on the pitch,” said the Spaniard after the game. “We did a lot of good things tonight. Everyone was excellent, including the players who came off the bench.”
Varo made three changes to the side that beat Young Lions 2-0 the previous weekend, with Bart, Rui Pires and Hami Syahin replacing Lennart, Tsiy Ndenge and Hariss Harun in the starting eleven.
And it took just five minutes for the Sailors to assert control, with Bart cutting in from the flank and drilling a precise low shot into the bottom corner to beat Zaiful Nizam and open the scoring.
Tanjong Pagar threatened a response in the 13th minute when Emilio Estevez raced through on goal, but Ivan Sušak stood tall to deny him in a crucial one-on-one.
That was about as good as it got for Tanjong Pagar as just four minutes later, the contest swung decisively in the Sailors’ favour when Shodai Nishikawa was shown a straight red card for a rash challenge on Akram.
“After the red card, the game slowed down a bit, but in the second half we did a great job,” said Bart. “It was a very good team performance from us.”
The Sailors quickly capitalised on their numerical advantage, and in the 19th minute, Bart turned provided as he teed up Anderson, who found the back of the net with a clinical finish to double their lead.
Anderson, who scored his first Sailors goal against the Jaguars back in September, continued to pose a constant threat, while Tanjong Pagar’s new Italian forward Junior Djile was left isolated up front. Nonetheless, former Sailor Naqiuddin Eunos did test Ivan with a curling effort, but the Croatian custodian dealt with it comfortably.
The hosts pressed hard for a third before the break and almost found it when Kyoga Nakamura’s inviting cross picked out Shawal, but his header drifted wide.
Moments later, however, the Sailors got the goal their attacking intent deserved, as Shawal’s dangerous low ball across goal forced Kim Li-kwan to turn it into his own net under pressure to make it 3-0.
The second half resumed in much the same fashion, and within a minute of the restart, Akram rattled the crossbar after reacting quickest to a loose ball.
It did not take long for the Sailors’ fourth goal to arrive, and in the 51st minute, Bart’s clipped pass found Anderson, whose intelligent knock-on across goal was met by Shawal for a neat headed finish.
On the hour mark, Varo introduced Lennart and Hafiz Nor, with Anderson and Shawal afforded a breather ahead of sterner tests to come. The reshuffle also allowed Kyoga to operate centrally for the first time since joining the club.
The Sailors scored their fifth goal not long after in the 69th minute, as Hami surged through the heart of the defence before forcing a save from Zaiful. Bart reacted quickest to the rebound and calmly slotted home for his seventh league goal of the season.
Bart was subsequently replaced by Tsiy, which ended his hopes of a hat-trick, but the Dutchman was simply pleased to have played his part in the Sailors’ emphatic victory.
“I’m delighted to get 70 minutes tonight as I build my fitness,” said Bart, who was named Man of the Match. “I’m always happy to help the team with goals and assists. “We’ve managed to keep a lot of things the same. Varo told us to enjoy the game and play the way we usually do.”
The substitutes continued to make their mark, and in the 82nd minute, Hafiz’s clever cut-back found Akram, who curled home a brilliant shot against his former side to make it six.
The rout was completed a minute later, as Kyoga slipped a neat pass into Lennart inside the box, and the German striker made no mistake with his eighth league goal of the season to seal a resounding 7-0 triumph.
The Sailors ended the night with 30 attempts on goal and recorded their sixth SPL clean sheet of the campaign, with four of them kept by Ivan.
It also matched the 7-0 scoreline against the Jaguars earlier this season, and underlined the Sailors’ relentless form as they chase what could yet be a historic domestic campaign.
Sterner tests await in the final two fixtures of the month, with title rivals BG Tampines Rovers and third-placed Albirex Niigata (S) up next, and Varo believes the team will be up for the challenge.
“We have to keep training hard, doing the right things as a team and always be ready for anything that comes our way,” he stated.
