The Lion City Sailors produced a spirited display against one of Southeast Asia’s heavyweights, but ultimately fell 3-1 to Johor Darul Ta’zim (JDT) in their opening ASEAN Club Championship (ACC) Shopee Cup Group B match at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium on Thursday (21 August).

An early brace from João Figueredo and a stoppage-time strike from Arif Aiman put the home side in control, before substitute Shawal Anuar netted a stunning consolation late on for the Sailors.

At the post-match press conference, Sailors Head Coach Aleksandar Ranković conceded that the damage was done in the opening stages, but was nonetheless encouraged by his team’s response after the break.

“The game was lost in the first half. We started too nervously, and conceding two early goals made things very difficult for us,” said Ranko.

“However, the second half performance was more like ourselves. We were more direct in our passing game and limited their chances, which helped us create one or two good chances. That should be our benchmark.”

Roared on by the majority of the 13,143-strong home crowd, JDT flew out of the blocks and were awarded a penalty in the 10th minute when Safuwan Baharudin was penalised for impeding Jairo da Silva in the area.

Up stepped Figueredo, who converted from 12 yards out to give the Malaysian champions the lead.

Just five minutes later, the Brazilian-born forward struck again, as he pounced on a loose ball in the box and slotted past Ivan Sušak from close range to double JDT’s advantage.

Despite the early setback, the Sailors kept their composure and held firm against JDT’s relentless pressure. The hosts came closest to adding a third in the 34th minute, but Ivan produced a fine save to deny Jairo at close range.

At the other end of the pitch, Anderson Lopes carved out a good opportunity just before the interval, but his effort was comfortably gathered by JDT goalkeeper Andoni Zubiaurre.

The Sailors emerged with renewed purpose after the break, and within nine minutes, Bart Ramselaar cut through the JDT defence before flashing a powerful effort just past the upright.

Moments later, he broke forward once more, delivering a dangerous ball across goal that Anderson agonisingly failed to connect with at the far post.

JDT replied with a chance of their own in the 57th minute, when Jairo pounced a Sailors defensive lapse and raced through on goal. Ivan, however, was alert and darted off his line to smother the Brazilian’s effort.

In the 78th minute, the Sailors thought they had pulled one back when Diogo Costa bundled in Anderson’s flick-on from a Tsiy Ndenge cross, but the goal was ruled out for offside.

JDT eventually killed off the contest in stoppage time, with Arif latching onto a quickly-taken free-kick to fire in their third.

Nonetheless, the Sailors kept going and managed to conjure a moment of brilliance in the 94th minute. Diogo won possession in midfield and released Shawal, who unleashed a thunderous strike from distance that arrowed into the bottom corner, giving the near 100-strong away fans’ contingent something to shout about.

While admitting that losing the Causeway derby was difficult to take, Ranko insisted that his side would respond to this defeat in the right way.

“We have to bounce back every time we lose – that’s expected of us,” Ranko stressed. “It’s good that our first Singapore Premier League (SPL) match is just a few days later. That gives us a chance to show that we can recover quickly from this result.”

The Sailors will now turn their attention to their SPL opener against Hougang United at Our Tampines Hub on Monday (25 August).

“Our full focus now is on recovering and preparing for the game against Hougang. They are a tough opponent as well, but we will be ready for them.”