SPL leaders Tampines defeat Sailors 4-3 to open up four-point lead

Tampines Rovers' Kyoga Nakamura celebrating with Shah Shahiran (far right) after scoring their second goal in the 4-3 win over Lion City Sailors at Our Tampines Hub on Friday. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR
Sailors midfielder Diego Lopes chasing down a loose ball, with Tampines players Shah Shahiran (far left) and Milos Zlatkovic unable to close him down. ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR

SINGAPORE – The nine-day international break did little to disrupt Tampines Rovers’ momentum, as the Singapore Premier League (SPL) leaders delivered a commanding performance to defeat second-placed Lion City Sailors 4-3 on Friday at Our Tampines Hub.

With the win, Tampines, still undefeated after six games, opened up a four-point gap to their title rivals.

Stags coach Gavin Lee made only one change from their last match – a 1-0 win against Albirex Niigata – starting former Sailors midfielder Saifullah Akbar in place of Ong Yu En, while Sailors coach Risto Vidakovic gave forward Shawal Anuar his first start as a lone striker in a 4-2-3-1 formation.

It took just eight minutes for the away side to break the deadlock, via a counter-attack with a series of lightning quick passes. Belgian forward Maxime Lestienne did the hard work, releasing a perfectly weighted ground cross that was swept home by Shawal.

But Tampines continued to pile on the pressure and 12 minutes later, they earned their reward.

A long diagonal ball found Faris Ramli, who skilfully beat his marker and delivered a cross that was parried by Sailors goalkeeper Zharfan Rohaizad straight into the path of Tampines captain Yasir Hanapi, who made no mistake.

Tampines used their momentum to take the lead on the half-hour mark after Kyoga Nakamura precisely rifled a long-distance strike into the bottom corner past an outstretched Zharfan.

The half-time interval did no favours for the Sailors, as the away side relinquished the ball cheaply once more in the 50th minute and substitute Joel Chew, who was stretchered off injured moments after, slipped in for Faris to hand Tampines a 3-1 lead.

While the Sailors were handed a lifeline six minutes later when Tampines left-back Glenn Kweh turned Lestienne’s cross into his own net, the home side restored their two-goal cushion with a header from substitute Taufik Suparno.

With the result beyond doubt, the Sailors brought on Nathan Mao, who became the youngest debutant in SPL history at 15 years 5 days, eclipsing the record held by Young Lions defender Raoul Suhaimi (15 years 239 days) since May 2021.

Sailors defender Manuel Lopez’s goal in stoppage time sparked hopes of a comeback but Tampines resiliently held on to win.

Lee said: “It’s a long journey. We got to be as consistent as we can in terms of practice to get the performances we want. There’s a lot we can do better... And the way we started both halves, we need to look beyond the result and scrutinise things we can do better.”

Added Vidakovic: “It was a complicated game... Everyone has to look at himself in the mirror and keep going as a team.

“Many players are still injured and we have had to adjust many things. We are going to get a new striker and then we are going to be better.”

Analysis

In an earlier interview, Vidakovic said his team may not be entertaining at times because they have to be practical to earn victories. That was the mentality they showed against Tampines, sitting in a compact 4-4-1-1 defensive block when they did not have possession.

While the Sailors conceded 14 times in a four-game losing spell from September to October 2022 under interim coach Luka Lalic, now, they are more pragmatic but still a work in progress.

They were tentative in possession and failed to use their attacking threats in wide areas when they could.

Unlike Tampines, who were tactically organised under long-term coach Lee, the Sailors – playing only their sixth league game under Vidakovic – still need time to gel.

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