'Huge 3 points' for White Swans

With just 10 rounds of matches left this season, Albirex Niigata seized the initiative in the Singapore Premier League (SPL) title race by beating defending champions Lion City Sailors 4-2 at the Jurong East Stadium last night.

Albirex remain second on the table behind the Sailors, but are only two points adrift and have a game in hand. They will go top if they win that game - against bottom side Young Lions - on Aug 10.

White Swans coach Kazuaki Yoshinaga urged his players not to spurn their advantage.

"This is a huge three points, but if we do not continue winning, it may become meaningless," he said. "We are happy now, but will be back working hard from tomorrow so we can keep winning."

In a game mostly played under a steady drizzle, a high-quality brace from star striker Kodai Tanaka helped the White Swans recover after trailing to a 21st-minute strike by Sailors midfielder M. Anumanthan.

That lead lasted only about 100 seconds, before Tanaka stole a march on his marker Amirul Adli to meet Masaya Idetsu's deep cross and nod home the equaliser.

In the 38th minute, Tanaka once again got the better of Amirul when he made the most of the space afforded to him and curled a shot into the top corner.

The two strikes took Tanaka to the top of the SPL scorers' chart with 19 goals, one ahead of Tampines Rovers' Montenegrin striker Boris Kopitovic.

Tanaka continued to play a decisive role in the second half, and turned provider when he led a counter-attack and teed up Kan Kobayashi to make it 3-1.

The Sailors pulled a goal back with 15 minutes left through substitute Kim Shin-wook, but Albirex's own substitute Tadanari Lee sealed the three points in the 84th minute when he headed home from close range.

Sailors coach Kim Do-hoon said the result was "very disappointing", and singled out conceding within two minutes of scoring as his biggest frustration.

But he vowed to rectify areas of his team's performance that were lacking and insisted his players still had time to come good.

"There are so many games ahead," he said.

"We have to shake this loss off, keep our heads up, focus on the next game and hopefully we do not repeat the same (mistakes) again the next time we see (Albirex)."

All is not lost for the Sailors, as these two sides will meet again in their penultimate game of the season on Oct 7.

But they need a quick remedy to their poor form - they have won only once in their last four matches - to regain some rhythm.

Kim said he started with import attackers Shin-wook and Maxime Lestienne, as well as Singapore forward Gabriel Quak, on the bench as they were having fitness issues.

The coach could also soon have bigger problems, as he has been charged by the Football Association of Singapore for violent conduct after an alleged headbutting incident in an SPL match with Tampines Rovers last Sunday, and could face a touchline ban.