The Lion City Sailors made it three straight wins under Head Coach Jesús Casas with a composed 4-0 victory over 10-man Tanjong Pagar United at the Jurong East Stadium on Monday (6 April) night.
Goals from Lennart Thy, Bart Ramselaar, Bailey Wright and Diogo Costa ensured the reigning Singapore Premier League (SPL) champions moved eight points clear at the top, while remaining unbeaten with six matches left to go in the 2025/26 season.
And while Jesús was pleased with a professional display, he stressed that higher standards will be needed as the title race intensifies.
“I’m very happy with the win. There were quite a few positive aspects, such as the clean sheet, and how players like Song (Uiyoung) and Chris (van Huizen) were able to feature, and they were at a good level,” said the Spaniard.
“However, we need to keep improving in all areas. I thought our pressing was good today, but we dropped off a bit towards the end. We need to maintain our intensity throughout, because a game can change in an instant if we concede. I hope we can perform even better in the next match.”
With nearly a month since their last league outing, Jesús made one notable change, handing Chris his first start since 18 October, while Diogo retained his place on the right wing after an impressive showing against Balestier Khalsa.
The Sailors controlled proceedings from the outset, with Lennart testing Matt Silva early on, before forcing another save with a sharp volley from Bart’s cross minutes later.
Diogo then came close to opening the scoring in the 24th minute with a curling effort that drifted just wide, as the visitors continued to probe down the flanks.
The breakthrough finally arrived in the 33rd minute. Deployed on the left wing, Chris delivered a precise cross for Lennart to guide home his 11th goal of the season.
The Sailors nearly doubled their lead before the break as Emilio Estevez produced a goal-line clearance to deny Lennart, while Diogo was unable to convert the rebound.
Jesús introduced Shawal Anuar during the break, and the change paid immediate dividends, as three minutes into the second half, the Singapore international surged to the byline and picked out Bart, who scored his first headed goal for the club.
Another Sailors substitute, Lucas Agueiro, also made his mark in the 65th minute, when his flicked header from a corner fell kindly for Bailey, who powered home a thumping volley for his fifth goal of the campaign.
Tanjong Pagar’s task became even harder in the 77th minute when Faizal Roslan was sent off following a VAR review for a reckless challenge on Diogo.
Despite the healthy lead, the Sailors continued to push forward and were rewarded deep into stoppage time, as Diogo sealed the win with an acrobatic first-time volley off Bart’s searching cross.
While the Sailors’ attack impressed, their defensive unit proved to be just as assured, with the Jaguars failing to register a single shot on target and allowing Ivan Sušak to claim his seventh clean sheet of the season.
And it was centre-back Bailey, who delivered at both ends, who was deservedly named Man of the Match.
“It’s always important to start the first game after a break with a win and a strong performance. We created many chances and could have scored more, but we showed clear signs of the style we want to play and were comfortable throughout the 90 minutes,” he said.
The Sailors return to action this Sunday (12 April) against Hougang United at the Jalan Besar Stadium, before facing Young Lions at the same venue the following Monday (20 April) in a crucial stretch of the run-in.
“Tampines are strong contenders and there are still plenty of games left, but we are focused on ourselves,” Bailey added.
“We’ve been in this position before, so it’s nothing new. Everything is in our hands and we know what we need to do. We just have to take it one game at a time.”
