The Lion City Sailors resumed their Singapore Premier League (SPL) 2025/26 campaign in assured fashion after a three-month hiatus, as they cruised to a 3-0 victory over Geylang International at Our Tampines Hub on Sunday (18 January) night.
An own goal late in the first half set the Sailors on their way, before strikes from Tsiy Ndenge and Shawal Anuar sealed a sixth win from six league matches to maintain their perfect start.
“I think we played very maturely and controlled the match from the beginning till the end,” said Sailors Head Coach Aleksandar Ranković. “There was one period where we were a little reckless with the ball and gave them a few opportunities, but overall we controlled the majority of the game.”
Ranko made two changes from last weekend’s Singapore Cup final triumph over BG Tampines Rovers, with Akram Azman and Hami Syahin coming in for Christopher van Huizen and Song Uiyoung respectively, while Kyoga Nakamura was handed his second straight start since joining the club earlier this month.
Geylang, meanwhile, were without the injured Shodai Yokoyama, but handed a debut to new signing Kim Tae-Ho, who had previously played for the FC Augsburg youth team as a centre-back.
The opening half was a cagey affair with few clear-cut chances, though Bart Ramselaar tested Rudy Khairullah twice inside the first 30 minutes.
But the Sailors’ pressure eventually told, and their breakthrough arrived in the 43rd minute when Lennart Thy’s low delivery into the six-yard box was inadvertently turned into his own net by Nazrul Nazari.
“They (Geylang) defended very deeply and very well,” Ranko reflected after the match. “It was difficult to find players between the lines. Maybe we were a little lucky with the first goal, and after that things became easier.”
The second half initially followed a similar pattern, with chances few and far between.
Ryoya Taniguchi, however, came close for Geylang with a free-kick that drifted wide. It was a moment that appeared to spur the Sailors into life as they began to play with greater intensity.
That shift paid dividends in the 64th minute when Tsiy’s brilliant effort from distance took a bounce off the turf before arrowing into the bottom left corner for his first SPL goal of the season.
Luka Adžić was then introduced for his league debut and quickly made his presence felt, delivering a corner that Toni Datković headed narrowly wide in the 74th minute. Geylang then went close to reducing the deficit a minute later with former Sailors playmaker Shahdan Sulaiman rattling the crossbar with a side-footed effort from the edge of the box.
But the Sailors duly put the result beyond doubt in the first minute of stoppage time when Luka’s pinpoint corner found Shawal, who outjumped Kaisei Ogawa to power home a thumping header — a fitting way to mark his 200th SPL appearance, having made his league debut with Geylang back in 2014.
“The second goal really sealed it for us,” admitted Ranko. “I cannot ask for more from my players. Sometimes it’s difficult for both teams to play on a dry pitch like this because the ball doesn’t move as quickly as you want it to, but we got the job done.”
The Sailors will look to extend their winning run when they face Hougang United on Saturday (24 January) in pursuit of a seventh straight league victory. Hougang, however, will be full of confidence after coming from two goals down to beat Balestier Khalsa 3-2 on Sunday.
A sterner test is expected, but the Sailors will back their defensive solidity and growing momentum to carry them through once again.
