Home strike four but Lee demands more

Source

Neo Chee Seong
info@sleague.com

Home United head coach Lee Lim Saeng was an angry man despite his side strolling to a comprehensive 4-0 win over traditional rivals Singapore Armed Forces FC in Sunday evening’s Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League tie at Choa Chu Kang Stadium.

The former Korea Republic international was disappointed with the manner in which his team played out the second half, despite having gone three goals up in the first half during a 16-minute spell.

On several occasions, Lee was seen coming off his bench seat and shouting instructions to his players from the edge of the technical area – not at all a common sight for teams holding a commanding lead.

He duly explained himself afterwards in the post-match interview.

“I am happy to get three points, but I am also unhappy to watch the performance of the team after we scored three,” he said.

“We should try to show what good football is about. We had the possession, but we should have tried to attack and score more goals, which we didn’t! We simply lost the ball too much when we could have held on to it.

“I thought that after we scored three, the opponents pushed us, and I need to credit the opponents for trying hard.

“We should show quality football. This is my fault, I will correct it during training with my guys.

“We are not finished as yet, we will try and be champions at the end of the season. It’s not over, we have to play Etoile on Thursday, and I will have some homework to do for that match.”

Home got off to the perfect start when a well-worked free kick down the right led up to a controversial decision by referee Sukhbir Singh, who ruled that Shahril Jantan ‘illegally’ picked up a loose ball which came off SAFFC teammate Hafiz Osman’s shin.

Singh signalled for an indirect free kick about eight yards away from goal, and up stepped Canada Under-23 international Sherif El-Masri, who blasted the ball into the roof of the net after a tap by his teammate.

The Warriors were stunned by the early goal, but they came back strongly, having the better of the possession in the opening minutes until a second Home goal came along.

Masrezwan Masturi, operating as a wingback for the Protectors, was given all the time in the world on the right flank by Shaiful Esah when the former SAFFC man opted for pace to elude his old teammate before squaring a ball for Firdaus Idros to poke home from close range at the far post.

As the Warriors were trying to recover from the second goal, a Home counterattack virtually killed the game before 20 minutes were up.

Juma’at Jantan caused some trouble for Hafiz on the left flank before picking El-Masri out yet again, and the latter applied the finishing touch from ten yards out with a coolly-taken shot.

19 minutes in, and at three goals down, Richard Bok’s men were facing an uphill task to recover, not at all a normal situation at Choa Chu Kang.

The early goals seemed to unsettle the Warriors, as they struggled to string their passes together in the first half. Fazrul Nawaz had the best chances in that time for the Warriors as he hit a shot high and wide, and the Singapore international also had a goal disallowed for a spot-on offside call by the assistant referee.

Shahril had to ensure that the scoreline did not get any bigger in the last minute of the half, as he was at full stretch to palm away a Juma’at shot which seemed destined for the top corner.

After the restart, the former Singapore custodian was again imperious as he foiled a cutback by El-Masri to prevent the Protectors from going four up.

Fazrul, on the other hand, was the Warriors’ likeliest scorer on the night with an abundance of chances. On 51 minutes, he sent a thumping shot onto the crossbar with Lionel Lewis well beaten in the Protectors’ goal after being given too much space from 30 yards out.

Eight minutes after that incident, Taisuke Akiyoshi tried a one-man show when he sprinted the full length of the pitch before feinting past Valery Hiek and shooting just wide of the post.

Just when the Warriors were getting their act together, they faced an in-form Lewis, who had no intention of giving up a clean sheet when he was at his best to stop current S.League goal king Mislav Karoglan on no fewer than four occasions.

The most impressive of the lot came on 81 minutes, when he misjudged a shot which took a wicked deflection off Kenji Arai, but then recovered well to tip the ball away at full stretch.

It was not the Warriors’ night, and the misery was compounded when Mustaqim Manzur received his marching orders for two bookable offences, the second a desperate tackle on the wing on 77 minutes when the rest of the players were all at sea.

Home substitute Yasir Hanapi completed the rout in the last minute of regulation time when he instinctively ran after a loose ball coming off a mistake by the Warriors defence, before shooting past Shahril from inside the 18-yard box.

It was quite the night for the Protectors, not least El-Masri, who was instrumental in this thumping. Having faced an uncertain future at the start of the season, the Canadian will now play a major role in the remaining games as Qiu Li had been ruled out for the rest of the season with a knee injury.

Speaking to sleague.com after the match, El-Masri was visibly happy with his all-round contribution.

“I have been here for two years, and I really came to life this year,” he said.

“I feel that I fit here pretty well, and I have the confidence now to go for everything. I feel really good.

“When I came today, I kept telling myself that I would get a goal. I was trying really hard to get the hat-trick, but I guess it just wouldn’t come!”

A disappointed Bok was gracious in defeat, crediting his Warriors for a fighting second half which led to the only positives he could draw from the game.

“I am shocked that the referee blew for an infringement and said that it was a back-pass,” he confided on the opening goal.

“I thought Shahril took that as a loose ball when it came off our defender, as it took a deflection. That really affected us a lot, and we were on the back foot from that incident.

“I am not saying that he (referee Singh) is spoiling the game, but I personally do not think that he had a good game.

“We could have done a lot better with the second goal. Masrezwan beat one of our guys so easily, and the ball just went across the face of goal. I thought we could have done better there in defending.

“We did very well in the second half, and it was evident that we didn’t give up even after Mustaqim was sent off.

“You can say that our title challenge is now over. It is mathematically still possible, but we will need the rest to lose in order for us to stand a chance.”

With the defeat, it is back to the drawing board for Bok’s troops as they look for at least a top-three finish come the end of the current season.

Home meanwhile storm to the top of the table with 62 points, two more than second-placed Tampines Rovers and three ahead of Albirex Niigata (Singapore), leaving the title race evenly-poised with six games to go.

They may still trail SAFFC in terms of the overall record on uniform derbies in the S.League, having managed only 14 wins to the Warriors’ 21 in 45, but if the latest one should go a long way towards sealing the league title, it will definitely be one for them to remember fondly for some time.