But stiffer challenges await the Lions, compared to the disjointed and dispirited side they faced at the National Stadium.

And, if bigger prey like Group 4 rivals Uzbekistan and Saudi Arabia are to be slain, Singapore's forwards will have to show less profligacy than they did in front of goal last night.

A clutch of wasted chances lent credibility to the tepid visitors, who seemed more interested in diving and arguing among themselves than giving the home side a run for their money.

When Singapore scored with virtually their first chance of the game after eight minutes, it seemed that a landslide win was on the cards.

Bosnia-born striker Aleksandar Duric bagged his fourth goal in seven appearances for his adopted country, blasting the ball high into the net after Shi Jiayi's shot was charged down inside the area.

Fazrul Nawaz was the next Lion to get on the scoresheet, robbing Ali Al-Saadi on the left before seeing his effort deflect off a Lebanese defender and past goalkeeper Lary Mehanna in the 23rd minute.

The goal must have come as a relief for the Geylang United forward, who was guilty of an astonishing blunder just five minutes earlier.

With the goal at his mercy from just three metres out, he inexplicably lifted the ball high above the bar - to the disbelief of the 10,000 fans who had turned up at Kallang.

It was the beginning of a litany of misses for Singapore, who started with skipper Indra Sahdan Daud and Duric in attack.

The pair combined well in the 50th minute, with Duric wriggling free in the box, only to see his shot bounce agonisingly off the upright.

The burly striker had his head in his hands again 20 minutes later, when he turned wide a teasing cross from Khairul Amri.

The Young Lions forward engineered another chance less than a minute later, finding an unmarked Shahril Ishak in the box.

But the midfielder fumbled and fell over the ball.

'We should have scored five or six goals,' admitted Duric. 'We were under pressure to win, but we're back on track now, and the group is wide open.'

Uzbekistan currently top the standings, after their 3-0 thumping of Saudi Arabia yesterday. Last month, the Saudis beat Singapore 2-0 in Riyadh.

But, while the Lions are currently second - the top two in the group move on to the next round - they still have to face the Uzbeks (twice) and 2006 World Cup finalists Saudi in the span of 12 days in June.

They will need to take at least a point off both those teams to have any chance of joining Asia's elite in round four. And, to do that, they would have to improve.

Apart from finding a deadlier touch in front of goal, they will also have to make possession count.

Mustafic Fahrudin, who played well all night, needlessly gave the ball away midway through the second half, sparking a quick Lebanese counter-attack.

Although it did not lead to a goal, coach Raddy Avramovic warned that his charges might not be so lucky next time.

'We lost possession for no reason and, against other teams, this will kill us,' he said.

Avramovic would have been pleased by the energetic performances of substitutes Amri and Shahril, who tormented Lebanon with their speed and movement.

The attacking pair showed that Singapore have enough options up front to fill the void left by the banned Noh Alam Shah.

Meanwhile, Lebanon have an uphill task ahead of them, after losing both their group matches.

Stray passes and a tendency to ball-watch took the sting out of their game plan.

Their players were seen gesticulating angrily at each other whenever a mistake was made.

Their best chance came in the 55th minute, when captain Abbas Atwi's looping shot was palmed over by an alert Singapore goalkeeper Lionel Lewis.

After complaining about his team's lack of preparation and the loss of key players all week, it was no surprise that Lebanese coach Emile Rustom sang the same tune after the match.

He said: 'The result was expected. Missing four players was too much. We tried our best against a good team, but it was logical that we lost.'

tvoon@sph.com.sg

RADDY AVRAMOVIC, Singapore coach