Month: September 2022
With three games left in the Deloitte Women’s Premier League (WPL), the unbeaten Lion City Sailors Women have the chance to seal the title by beating Still Aerion FC at Yishun Stadium on Saturday (10 September) night.
Currently five points clear of nearest challengers Tanjong Pagar United with a game in hand, a win is all the table-topping Sailors need to ensure they will not be caught by any other teams.
The Sailors women beat Still Aerion 4-0 in July, and even as they look odds-on to claim their maiden WPL crown, captain Ernie Sulastri has vowed that there will be no letting up.
“We may be one win away (from the title), but we have to stay level-headed,” said the 33-year-old defender.
“We need to be focused and cannot allow complacency to creep in. We will go into this match like how we approach any other game and everyone in the team has a role to play.”
Ernie is acutely aware of the threat Aerion can pose, but she wants the team to focus on playing attractive football as a reward for their fans.
“The scoreline is not the most important thing to us,” she added. “Instead, it is how we play beautiful football and make sure our fans enjoy the match.
”It will be an interesting match for the neutrals. We are aware that Aerion have got speedy and aggressive players who can cause damage and it will not be an easy game for us.”
While preparations have not been the most ideal with the majority of the team away on international duty with Singapore the past week, Ernie is unperturbed.
“Off the pitch, we believe that the players have the discipline to do training and analysis for our next game on their own,” said Ernie, who is also skipper of the Lionesses.
“In addition, coach (Yeong) Sheau Shyan typically prepares for games a few days prior and lets us know what she expects. We just have to trust the process and believe that we can execute the game plan well to get the three points.”
Looking back at the WPL campaign so far, Ernie is glad for the support received from the fans and everyone at the club.
“I’m not forgetting my teammates who have pushed one another during the course of the season. They have made this season a memorable one,” said Ernie, pointing to the likes of Danelle Tan, Sara Merican and Summer Chong who have left Singapore for education or work pursuits.
“We are always learning to be better players and contributing to the team. At the end of the day, I believe in the motto: “We play as a team, win as a team” and we are all raring to go against Aerion.”
An off-colour, error-ridden display saw the Lion City Sailors go down 3-1 to Geylang International at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Sunday (4 September) evening, in what was their first defeat under interim Head Coach Luka Lalić.
Despite taking an early lead through Maxime Lestienne, the champions allowed Geylang to net three in a remarkable turnaround as the Eagles saw out the result to maintain their impressive run of form – Noor Ali’s side have now won eight and lost just once out of their last 12 Singapore Premier League (SPL) matches.
“It wasn’t really about what Geylang were able to do, it’s about what we allowed them to do. We made several errors at the individual and team level, they utilised it perfectly for a couple of goals and that’s the reality,” lamented Luka.
“But credit goes to Geylang, they wanted it more than us today and they fully deserved this win against us.”
Having kept nine out of the 11 players that started the 9-4 victory over Hougang United a week ago – Diego Lopes and Adam Swandi were not fully fit – the Sailors got off to a smashing start and broke the deadlock after just eight minutes.
Released by an excellent Faris Ramli ball over the top, Kim Shin-wook had the presence of mind to tee Maxime up for an emphatic finish that gave the Belgian his 11th league goal of the season.
It looked like the Sailors were on their way to a fourth win in as many games under Luka, but Geylang showed spirit to draw level just four minutes later with Vincent Bezecourt sweeping home after some untidy defending in the box.
The Frenchman, who used to play for New York Red Bulls in USA’s Major League Soccer, repeated the trick in the 36th minute as he darted into the six-yard box to convert Ilhan Noor’s deflected cross to put the Eagles 2-1 up.
The visitors then scored a third on 43 minutes, with Hazzuwan Halim – who was on the pitch for just four minutes after replacing the injured Šime Žužul – benefitting from yet another deflected ball, this time from Bezecourt, to flick past a stranded Hassan Sunny in the Sailors goal.
The Sailors rallied in the second half, but there was no way past a resolute Geylang backline led by captain and goalkeeper Zaiful Nizam.
The two best chances fell to Shin-wook, but he was first denied by a sprawling save in the 57th minute before Zaiful got the slightest of touches to tip his goal-bound header onto the bar on 83 minutes.
Eventually going down to a deserved fourth defeat of the season, the Sailors are now level on points with Albirex heading into the final five matches but remain top courtesy of a superior goal difference.
Luka is determined to take the lessons from this loss and backed his charges to bounce back as they visit Tampines Rovers at Our Tampines Hub next in the SPL this coming Saturday (10 September).
“We need to take a close look in the mirror, analyse what we did wrong in the game, and fix these issues as soon as possible. This result does us no favours in the title run-in and we’ve made things harder for ourselves.
“But we’re going to dig in, work harder and I’m confident these boys can get back to their usual selves in the next game,” he said.
“I hope our fans will continue to stand behind us and we’ll make sure we get things right in the coming weeks.”
After celebrating his 30th birthday with a long-awaited brace in a record-breaking 9-4 win over Hougang United, Faris Ramli is chomping at the bit to build on that as the Lion City Sailors host an in-form Geylang International side at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Sunday (4 September) evening.
Having come off the bench to make assists in three straight Singapore Premier League (SPL) games, the Sailors attacker took advantage of his first start in a month against the Cheetahs to net his first brace since September 2020 when he was playing for Terengganu in the Malaysia Super League.
“I was making an impact off the bench, but it always feels better to start, get on the scoresheet and help the team win games,” said Faris. “It was my birthday two days before the game (against Hougang) and everyone wanted me to score, so I have to thank them for helping me get the goals.
“It hasn’t been an easy year, but now I’m slowly getting back into shape and into the flow of what I’m capable of. There was a lot of hard work and patience involved to get back to full fitness, which is slowly paying off. Now I just want to keep going in this manner, do even better and help the team achieve our goal of retaining our SPL title and be Singapore Cup champions.”
It could well be a tricky task against the Eagles, who are in great form – winning seven and losing just once out of their last 11 matches. The impressive streak has propelled them into the top four with six games remaining, this after languishing in the bottom two for large parts of the season.
Noor Ali’s men have also proven to be stubborn opponents for the Sailors in 2022, they beat Hariss Harun and company 1-0 at Our Tampines Hub – the first of the Sailors’ two defeats this season, with the other coming against Albirex Niigata (S) – then held the defending champions 1-1 at the same venue in July.
The Sailors secured a narrow 1-0 win over Geylang at Jalan Besar in May, but Faris is not taking anything for granted.
Even so, he believes the team’s growing confidence – on the back of 26 goals scored in three straight wins under interim Head Coach Luka Lalić – can power them to another victory.
“Geylang is not just solid at the back with Zaiful Nizam keeping the most clean sheets (eight) in the league, but they also have quality attackers. We cannot afford to let our guard down for sure,” said the 2019 SPL Player of the Year.
“But we’re focusing on ourselves and how we can improve further. It’s our fourth week with Coach Luka and all I can say is training’s been very intense – which some of us required some adjusting to – but everyone is putting in a lot of effort.
“The best part is that we’re all pushing each other and wanting to do better as a team. We’ve been adapting well to Coach Luka’s style of play and we’re going all out to deliver another three points for the fans.”
In a rejuvenated Faris, the Sailors have an invaluable weapon in their arsenal going into the business end of the season and the man is determined to drive even harder towards the finish line.
“There were chronic issues that bothered me earlier this season, but now I’m feeling really good after a lot of rehab work with our strength and conditioning staff.
“I knew I had to fight for my position especially with the quality players we have, so it’s great to have Coach Rodri who has been working with me and the other attackers like Maxime (Lestienne), Diego (Lopes), Song (Ui-young) and (Kim) Shin-wook to practice finishing and he has been very detailed,” said Faris, in reference to Rodrigo Costa, Head of Technical Training at the Sailors’ Academy, who has been brought in to bolster the first-team setup.
In what has been an enthralling title race, the Sailors now lead the eight-team SPL standings by three points but Albirex could go level if they beat Balestier Khalsa on Friday (2 September).
Faris called for his team to focus on their own tasks going into this final stretch, because he believes that single-mindedness will make a big difference.
“It doesn’t matter which club plays first or second on a matchweek, that doesn’t affect us. We as a club – players and officials – have agreed on one thing, to focus on ourselves.
“It may sound like a cliché, but it’s really about taking each game as it comes. Our aim is to win these last six games and we’re firmly driving towards that target.”
