The Reviewer: The goals go on

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Islam’s holy month of Ramadan brings with it the compulsory daytime fast, when it is prohibited to consume food and drink, smoke and have sex, among other things. The acts of self-deprivation are intended to bring Muslims closer to Allah as well as learn first-hand the plights of the unfortunate who have no access to things we otherwise take for granted.

Perhaps fortunately for Muslim and non-Muslim Singapore football fans alike, S.League matches take place after sunset, so there is no worry over being deprived of some pitch action. And as the games in the past week have shown, the goals appear to be in no danger of drying up.

Home United’s performance at Toa Payoh Stadium at the start of the week certainly bears testament to that, producing no fewer than four goals as the Protectors took Balestier Khalsa apart with some ease. The booty was nicely spread around, the on-form Qiu Li leading the way after just nine minutes before being joined by Juma’at Jantan, Sherif El-Masri and Frederic Mendy on the scoresheet.

Tigers coach Salim Moin suggested his players looked a little too charitable at the back, although if that was true, it would hardly be the first time they had been guilty of that this season. More to the point, though, Home knew how important it was to quickly exorcise the ghosts of another failed tilt at the League Cup.

Having picked up some positive momentum now, they duly carried it into their next match against Gombak United on Friday, only to be thwarted by some dogged defending from the Bulls in the first half. Darren Stewart’s side may be struggling to bring in the points this season, but the strength in their defensive core remains a challenge for others to overcome.

Their greater challenge lies in providing consistent potency in attack, and while they did make Home goalkeeper Fajar Sarib work somewhat, it still seemed inadequate – which perhaps explains why the tense finish towards the end seemed at odds with the disparity in strength between the two sides.

Jung Hee Bong deserves praise, however, for looking like a transformed man since joining Gombak from Geylang United late on in the transfer period. Having mustered just one goal for the Eagles in over a dozen appearances, he has now scored twice in three games for his new paymasters.

It is a deal that has ended up benefitting both clubs. Mike Wong had brought in striker Yuta Nakano and midfielder Jeon Byung Euk to revive the Geylang attack, and the two newcomers did that with some aplomb by taking high-flying Tampines Rovers down 2-0 in the Stags’ backyard. Talk about showing some teeth!

For the Tampines strikers, though, the eastern derby was a nightmare, especially for Aleksandar Duric. Newspaper images of his agonising close-range miss will probably stick in his memory for some time yet, as his goal drought at club level continues. Could they have finally drained themselves dry? Home supporters would certainly like to think so.

Balestier fans almost reckoned as much when they hosted Tampines on the weekend, when the Tigers showed remarkably good discipline to close their visitors down for more than 94 minutes. But when Aliff Shafaein played a free kick from the right flank out to Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin instead of inwards for any number of towering figures wearing yellow shirts, Salim’s boys were caught out and Tampines escaped with all three points.

They were very nearly left without anything altogether, had Mark McGough’s effort in the first half been adjudged to have cleared the line before Fahrudin Mustafic had hacked it away. Arguments for goal-line technology or additional line referees have been given following similar incidents in the big leagues in Europe, but despite Salim joining the long line of football people mooting the idea, he too must reckon his words will ultimately fall on deaf ears.

At least he might have a case; Terry Pathmanathan’s scathing comments in the immediate aftermath of a contentious goal scored against his Tanjong Pagar United side ended up looking a little silly after a video clip on YouTube showed that Albirex Niigata (Singapore) striker Yosuke Saito was onside when he did the deed. To be fair, though, football is a game strewn with errors, and it would be a lot less fun without them.

That said, Albirex were largely allowed to get away with a performance that at times bordered on the lackadaisical. Lifting the League Cup after two weeks of very exhausting work, Koichi Sugiyama’s charges could be pardoned for playing another slow game against the Jaguars, but not for taking a complacent position on the pitch that might have caused their coach undue embarrassment had Saito not scored his decider all of six minutes from the final whistle.

Get the win first and sit back later – that is probably something Sugiyama will be telling the Albirex players when they prepare for their next match.

It’s a lesson the seasoned campaigners at SAFFC seem to know quite well, as shown by their 3-0 triumph over the Courts Young Lions that washed away the pain of losing earlier in the week to Etoile FC. There might have been just one goal in that one, but a miserable outing for Mislav Karoglan, who was left chasing long balls for most of the evening, showed a lack of tactical invention by the Warriors as Jonathan Toto’s second-half goal went unanswered.

At least Karoglan and his teammates regained the scoring touch against Robin Chitrakar’s youngsters. Shaiful Esah needed just four minutes to earn his side the lead, and it is worth noting that for once, it was off his head, not his left boot.

With Navin Nigel Vanu suspended and the much-touted Khairul Nizam unavailable, the Young Lions were looking dreadfully short of options up front, allowing SAFFC to see out the game in second gear. There was even time for the hosts to bag a couple of late goals, one of them a Karoglan penalty that took the Croat to the top of the goal charts.

At the end of the game, Chitrakar revealed that it would be the last one in some time for Hariss Harun, who will be enlisting in the coming week. The good news for Hariss and his teammates is that he will not be going to the army, so this is probably not the last S.League fans have seen of him this season.

Hougang United supporters, however, would probably not mind not seeing him again, if that makes it easier for the Cheetahs to avenge their 0-2 defeat to the Young Lions. For the third time in four years now, the losing finalists in the League Cup proceeded to lose their very first league match after the tournament, and considering the difference in fatigue levels between the two sides that turned up on Tuesday, the result was perhaps no surprise.

Nor, come to think of it, was the central role Shahdan Sulaiman played in his debut appearance for the Jalan Besar-based side. Scoring the Young Lions’ first goal and having a big part to play in the second, the 23-year-old showed just why he has been such a class act at both Tampines and Home, especially in the last two seasons.

The danger is that, having already scored seven goals for the Stags this year, Shahdan’s ability to find the net is allowed to mask his true talent in exploiting his teammates’ gifts and bringing them into play. But if Nazrul Ahmad Nazari’s shining example against Hougang can be heeded by the likes of Fazli Ayob and Faris Ramli, then the Young Lions could soon treat themselves to a few goal feasts, Ramadan or no Ramadan.

The views expressed in this article are those of the author and are not intended to represent the views of FAS and the S.League