Lion City Sailors stun Sydney FC 2-0 in Asian Champions League Two semi-final, first leg
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SINGAPORE – The wet conditions at the Jalan Besar Stadium on April 9 failed to dampen the spirits of the red-hot Lion City Sailors, as they took a 2-0 lead over Sydney FC into the second leg of their AFC Champions League Two semi-final tie.
As the rain pelted down on the artificial pitch, the Sailors’ foreign legion shone against the much-touted Sydney side, who had several Australian internationals and former Brazil international Douglas Costa, winner of league titles with top European clubs Bayern Munich and Juventus.
Individual moments of brilliance from Bart Ramselaar and Lennart Thy in either half were enough to sink the visitors and put the Sailors on course for their first-ever Asian final.
Sailors coach Aleksandar Rankovic was pleased with the display, especially Ramselaar’s opener.
“We played very maturely, we only gave one or two shots on goal (away), and against this team, that’s quite impressive.
“Of course, with the chances that we had, we could’ve maybe scored even more.
“I’m happy that Bart started shooting from distance... I keep saying that to him all the time. But sometimes, he just wants to assist, but you can see if he wants to score, he has to take some chances.
“But amazing, one of the best goals that I’ve definitely seen this season.”
Lion City Sailors fans after the team’s win at Jalan Besar Stadium on April 9, 2025.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
After weathering the early storm, the Sailors went ahead through Ramselaar’s rocket in the 18th minute against the run of play, much to the delight of the 4,213-strong crowd.
A cross-field pass from Song Ui-young found fullback Diogo Costa. He then teed up the Dutchman, who duly curled his 20-metre effort past a diving Harrison Devenish-Meares and went in off the bar.
Sydney came close to an equaliser on the stroke of half-time. Anthony Caceres was hacked down by Rui Pires just outside the box, only for Douglas Costa to fire the free kick high and wide of Izwan Mahbud’s goal.
An early goal after the restart threw the visitors’ plans into disarray. Diogo Costa was again the provider, sending a deep pass to Thy, who took a touch before firing into the roof of the net.
Lion City Sailors’ Lennart Thy scores from a Diogo Costa pass.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
“We can be happy with the performance today at home, we know our strengths and were pretty good on the counter-attack. But going to Sydney with 2-0, it’s a good result but (there is) still 90 minutes to go,” said German striker Thy.
Despite dominating with 69 per cent possession, Sydney will rue the poor return.
They managed just two shots on target in 12 attempts as the hard-working Sailors kept them at bay ahead of the second leg at the Allianz Stadium on April 16.
Lion City Sailors chairman Forrest Li (in black) embraces Song Ui-young after the team’s win against Sydney FC.
ST PHOTO: SHINTARO TAY
A disappointed Sydney coach Ufuk Talay admitted his team were let down by “passes at the crucial moments”.
“We had a lot of the ball but were unable to penetrate, they were very deep and it was hard to break down the 10 players they had inside their 18-yard box. The two moments that they had, they scored two goals.
“Overall we had a little more possession but we were quite ineffective today.
“There’s still a lot to play for and we’ll play at home (next). They’ll probably sit deep again, and it’s up to us to break them down.”
The winners will host the final against either Saudi Arabia’s Al-Taawoun, who hold a 1-0 advantage after the first leg on April 8, or the UAE’s Sharjah FC.
The champions will pocket US$2.5 million (S$3.4 million) while the losing finalists will take home US$1 million.
Melvyn Teoh is a sports journalist at The Straits Times.
