Lion City Sailors’ defeat in Bangkok ends hopes of qualification for next round of ACL

SINGAPORE – The Lion City Sailors knew the objective before they took to the field at Thailand’s Thammasat Stadium, where a loss against Bangkok United on Nov 29 would mark the end of their pursuit of qualification for the next round of the Asian Champions League (ACL).

The Singapore Premier League (SPL) side battled hard and stayed in the game for most of the encounter but a Rungrath Poomchantuek goal from an 86th-minute free kick killed off the Sailors’ campaign.

Sailors head coach Aleksandar Rankovic said after the match : “If you look at just the result, of course I’m disappointed but if I see the way my team plays, I am very proud of them.

“We made it very difficult for the home team but to lose a goal from a free kick hurts. We still have one more game to play and we want to get all three points from that.”

The 1-0 loss, coupled with Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors’ 2-1 win over Kitchee SC earlier in the day, meant that despite having one more round of group matches, the Sailors can at most finish third in the four-team Group F.

The five group winners and three best runners-up from each region advance to the round of 16. 

With each team having played five matches, the Sailors are third with six points, while Jeonbuk are second with nine.

Bangkok qualified for the next round for the first time in their history as table toppers with 13 points after the latest win.

They will face Jeonbuk in South Korea on Dec 13.

Even if the Sailors secure three points against Hong Kong’s Kitchee – who are bottom with one point – at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Dec 13, they cannot overtake Jeonbuk due to their poorer goal difference in head-to-head matches.

The Sailors lost to the Korean giants 3-0 in Jeonju on Oct 25 before carving out a heroic 2-0 victory in Singapore on Nov 8.

The Sailors’ task on Nov 29 was never going to be straightforward even though they went to Thailand on the back of the morale-boosting win over Jeonbuk which had fuelled their bid to become the first Singapore club to qualify for the ACL knockout phase.

But they faced a mammoth task from the beginning against a side who were unbeaten in 15 matches across four competitions coming into the tie.

Bangkok are also the current leaders in the Thai League 1, with seven wins and two draws from nine matches.

On the hour mark, Thossawat Limwannasathian thought that he had given the hosts the lead after he headed in unmarked from close range. The Sailors, however, would get their reprieve via the video assistant referee, who ruled the Thai midfielder was marginally offside.

The visitors could have snatched it late on when forward Shawal Anuar ran clear in the 83rd minute with only Patiwat Khammai to beat but he fired straight at the goalkeeper.

Three minutes later, Bangkok were awarded a free kick outside the box after a foul by Shawal and Rungrath made the Sailors pay with a fine curling effort that went over the wall and past Zharfan Rohaizad in goal.

The Sailors – who finished second in the nine-team SPL – still have a chance for silverware this season.

They play the first of their two-legged Singapore Cup semi-final against Tampines Rovers on Dec 3.