SINGAPORE - Lion City Sailors and Tampines Rovers lived up to their billing as the two teams to watch this season, serving up a 3-3 thriller on Saturday (March 13) as the new Singapore Premier League (SPL) season kicked off.

Neither the 70-minute delay due to a lightning threat nor the absence of the Sailors' much-hyped Brazilian signings - defender Jorge Fellipe and $3 million creative midfielder Diego Lopes - from the matchday squad due to fitness issues prevented the hosts from making a blistering start at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

A sleek attacking move involving left-back Nur Adam Abdullah, forwards Gabriel Quak, Stipe Plazibat and Haiqal Pashia set up midfielder Song Ui-young's opening goal after just five minutes.

Less than a minute later, they were 2-0 up as reigning Player of the Year Quak took advantage of a backpedalling Tampines defence to slot in to the bottom corner from the edge of the penalty area.

The Stags, who started without a recognised striker until targetman Boris Kopitovic joined the action in the 55th minute, were stunned but did not surrender.

They were unfortunate not to have a penalty after Tajeli Salamat handled in the box in the 17th minute, but recovered to halve the deficit two minutes later when Madhu Mohana pounced on an uncleared corner from Yasir Hanapi.

There were no further goals in the first half though Song and Quak both missed good chances to extend the Sailors' lead.

Quak made amends after the break as he finished off a nice move that featured the energetic Nur Adam and substitute Faris Ramli's delightful flick in the 58th minute and it looked like Sailors coach Aurelio Vidmar was poised for his first win over Tampines.

But Stags skipper Yasir Hanapi led by example, seizing on Kopitovic's pass and beating the Sailors defence in the 63rd minute.

Five minutes later, he grabbed the equaliser after winning possession from a Tampines throw-in and his cross from the left eluded everyone before finding the bottom corner.

Both sides then missed clear opportunities to snatch a dramatic win but neither coaches were too disappointed with the dropped points.

Aurelio said: "We started very brightly and full credit to Tampines for clawing back. I'm not disappointed because this is the way football is. I'm quite happy with this performance for our first game and we are only going to become stronger as the season progresses.

"Diego and Jorge will be up for selection once they are fully fit and I have got an excellent headache and this fierce competition is exactly what we want."

Despite the game being closed to fans due to coronavirus restrictions, Tampines coach Gavin Lee felt the end-to-end encounter was a great advertisement for the SPL.

He said: "I have always enjoyed games against the Sailors because we are two teams with clear intentions and plans to play positive football, even as we try to foil each other.

"We should be disappointed with how we started the game but proud of how we stayed calm and continued to execute our game plan.

Analysis

Much of the pre-match hype was about whether the Sailors would dominate the SPL after spending big to beef up their squad. But former Rio Ave man Lopes was not even on the teamsheet, and instead, it was the locals who shone.

Left-back Nur Adam, 20, showed he was a tenacious defender but also willing to get involved in attack, while the likes of Quak and Faris Ramli shone up front.

Defensive woes, exemplified by how sloppily they conceded the late equaliser, remain from last season and the Sailors will pin their hopes on Fellipe becoming a leader at the back.

Meanwhile, built at just a fraction of the Sailors' budget, Tampines demonstrated they could still be a force to be reckoned with despite losing Amirul Adli and Jordan Webb.

As Lee enters his third year in charge, the Stags' possession-based football philosophy is firmly entrenched even with a squad less stacked than the Sailors, but new attacking import Armin Bosnjak needs to produce better service from the left.

From a neutral's point of view, it is just as well the Sailors did not romp to a big win, and the even and competitive nature of this match sets the stage for a keenly contested season.