Lion City Sailors’ Maxime Lestienne says goodbye with cheeky missed Panenka

SINGAPORE – Maxime Lestienne’s 131st and final appearance for the Lion City Sailors, in the Singapore Cup semi-final, second-leg clash against Balestier Khalsa on Dec 20, was an uncharacteristically subdued one.

But the departing winger was not forgotten in the stands, where fans showed their adulation throughout the match and gave him a standing ovation when he came off in the 88th minute.

Lestienne, the club’s top scorer (70 goals) since their privatisation in 2020, had a glorious chance to sign off in style when he stepped up to the spot in the 73rd minute, after Anderson Lopes’ effort was handled by defender Mario Subaric at Jalan Besar Stadium.

But in typical Lestienne fashion, he went for the spectacular. His failed Panenka was followed by a cheeky smile and a high-five exchange with Balestier goalkeeper Mario Mustapic, who had read his intentions.

“I have scored many penalties in my career but never a Panenka, so I said for the last game if I get a penalty, I wanted to try a Panenka,” Lestienne said.

The defending champions would go on to notch a 1-0 win (5-1 on aggregate) courtesy of an early Shawal Anuar goal.

And despite losing 3-1 to Albirex Niigata in the other second-leg tie at Our Tampines Hub, BG Tampines pulled through with a 5-3 aggregate victory to set up a repeat of last season’s final.

The result also meant that the Sailors will be gunning for a Cup hat-trick on Jan 10.

Lestienne said: “I told my teammates that today’s my last game here, but you have to continue this positive feeling. (When I return home), I will be the club’s No. 1 supporter, I will try to follow every game.”

Before kick-off, the Sailors’ faithful unfurled a giant banner as a tribute to the Belgian, and cheers rang out each time the ball fell at his feet.

“It was hard to focus on the game. It was not easy for me, but thank you to all the fans, the staff, my teammates and my family,” he said.

Sailors head coach Aleksandar Rankovic praised his charge for the “massive impact” he has had during his four-year stint.

He said: “It was a privilege coaching him... I don’t think Singapore has had a player like that. We want to get this Cup for Maxime, for everyone, for the club and the players.”

In contrast to the fanfare in the stands, the contest itself was a largely dreary affair, with few clear-cut chances at either end.

The Tigers looked to have tightened up their defence after the previous encounter. Still, they shot themselves in the foot in the ninth minute, when a mix-up at the back between midfielder Lazar Vujanic and defender Madhu Mohana gifted Shawal a loose ball. Mustapic was equal to the initial effort, but Shawal’s second bite of the cherry proved enough to force the opener.

There was a glimmer of hope for the visitors eight minutes later when Daniel Goh’s header found the back of the net, but his effort was ruled offside.

Then came Maxime’s Panenka attempt in the second half, before his side saw out the 1-0 win.

Balestier head coach Marko Kraljevic said: “We learnt from our mistakes in the previous game, where there were a lot of crosses coming in, and they overloaded us with numbers.

“Today, we changed it up, and we can see it working better.”

Analysis

Balestier’s five-man defensive line did well to snuff out most of the Sailors’ attacking threats, but an early goal conceded from an errant pass into the box all but extinguished hopes of a first Singapore Cup final appearance for the Tigers since their 2014 win.