Sanfrecce Hiroshima sink Lion City Sailors 6-1 in dominant ACL Two quarter-final first-leg win

SINGAPORE – In chilly conditions in Japan, J1 League side Sanfrecce Hiroshima proved too hot to handle for the Singapore Premier League’s Lion City Sailors, who suffered a 6-1 thrashing in the first leg of their Asian Champions League (ACL) Two quarter-final on March 5.

Temperatures hovered around 7 deg C at kick-off at the Edion Peace Wing Hiroshima stadium, with Sailors players donning gloves and long-sleeved kits to cope with the climes in south-west Japan.

While the Sailors had enjoyed a remarkable ACL Two campaign to reach the last eight, the tie against Sanfrecce exposed the gulf between the SPL table-toppers and a side who finished second in the 20-team J1 League in 2024.

Sailors coach Aleksandar Rankovic said after the match that his side played maybe “the best opponent in Asia at the moment”.

Looking ahead, he is determined to draw some lessons from the match.

The Serb said: “I said to my boys, you learn more from this match than all the previous matches we played in the last two years.

“This is the level we want to progress to but it will take a lot of time. (This is the) level you have to strive to... and it is a totally different level (compared) to our league.”

The hosts opened the scoring in the 12th minute when a series of passes outside the box eventually led to Satoshi Tanaka finding space just inside the area to rifle in a left-footed shot past Sailors goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud.

The Japanese side continued to dominate play and forced the Sailors on the back foot as they made last-ditch challenges and blocks, with Izwan on hand to make several more saves.

But in the 36th minute, the Sailors showed a glimpse of how lethal they can be on the transition with a clinical counter-attack.

As a corner was cleared by the Sailors, Maxime Lestienne sprinted into the opposition half with the ball before picking out Bart Ramselaar, who then found Shawal Anuar in the box.

The Singapore forward once again showed his composure, as he shifted the ball onto his right foot before expertly finding the bottom right corner to make it 1-1.

It was Shawal’s eighth goal in nine ACL Two matches, which makes him the joint-top scorer of the competition, alongside Iranian forwards Sardar Azmoun, who plays for UAE’s Shabab Al-Ahli, and Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh of Tractor SC.

But it was as good as it got for the Sailors all night as the goal did little to stop Sanfrecce’s momentum and three minutes before half-time, the hosts regained the lead when Sota Nakamura’s low cross from the right was turned in by Ryo Germain.

The Japanese side picked up from where they left off two minutes after the break, when Germain ghosted in front of Sailors centre-back Toni Datkovic to turn in a sumptuous cross from the left flank by Shunki Higashi.

Substitutes Hayao Kawabe and Valere Germain then added the fourth and fifth goals in the 68th and 74th minutes respectively before Nakamura made it 6-1 a minute later.

The Sailors’ ACL Two campaign has surely come to an end now, with only pride to play for in the second leg at the Jalan Besar Stadium on March 12.

Said Datkovic: “We want to finish the second (leg) with our head held high. We will go and try to win and see what happens.

“Even if we don’t succeed, this team will get out on the field with our chest up and make our fans proud.”