The Lion City Sailors took a huge step towards qualifying for the next round of the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) Two, as they defeated Thailand’s Port FC 3-1 on Wednesday (30 October) night to go to the summit of Group F.
Shawal Anuar scored a quickfire double in the first-half, before assisting Song Uiyoung for the Sailors’ third after the break, as the Singapore Premier League (SPL) outfit stunned the home crowd at the BG Stadium in Pathum Thani into silence.
With this win, the Sailors remain unbeaten at the halfway mark of the group stage, having notched up two wins and one draw from their first three games in the competition.
This victory also marked the first time in 15 years that a Singaporean club has defeated a Thai team in Thailand in AFC competitions. The last team to do so was the now-defunct Singapore Armed Forces FC, who beat PEA FC (now Buriram United) 4-1 at the Rajamangala Stadium in the 2009 ACL preliminary round.
After the game, Sailors Head Coach Aleksandar Ranković commended his players for achieving this landmark result.
“Port are a very tough opponent,” said the Serb. “I can’t recall the last time they conceded three goals, so all credit goes to my players. Earning seven points from our first three matches in the ACL Two is a testament to the team’s character, and I think we showed that tonight.”
The suspension of Bart Ramselaar saw Shawal Anuar return to the starting lineup, with Ranko otherwise keeping most of the same squad that began last week’s game against Persib Bandung.
Though the change was enforced, Shawal made the most of his opportunity, opening the scoring for the Sailors just 14 minutes in, with the 33-year-old latching onto Christopher van Huizen’s low cross into the box and calmly slotting it home.
Just three minutes later, the Sailors incredibly found themselves two goals up.
And it was that man Shawal again who made the difference, as the Singapore international latched onto a loose ball, took one touch, accelerated past his marker, before accurately finishing past Port goalkeeper Worawut Srisupha.
It was only the second time in the 2024/25 season that Port found themselves two goals down in a match, while the Sailors were in dreamland, leading 2-0 within 20 minutes for the first time this season, thanks to Shawal’s quickfire brace.
“Shawal is typically a central striker, but without Bart, we knew that playing between the lines isn’t really his strength,” Ranko shared in the post-match press conference. “We needed someone to support our second striker, and we observed that their central defenders tend to push forward aggressively.”
“That allowed Shawal to position himself just behind Lennart, creating ample space for him and Song to exploit. It’s a tactic we worked on over the past few days, and Shawal executed it perfectly.”
If Shawal was the standout in the Sailors’ attack, Hami Syahin was the defensive anchor, quietly excelling in an unfamiliar right wing-back position as he kept Port FC’s main threat, Kevin Deeromram, in check, limiting the home side’s chances in the first half.
After the break, the 2023/24 Thai League 1 second runners-up emerged revitalised, with Lonsana Doumbouya testing Izwan Mahbud with two headers in the opening five minutes of the second half.
The hosts’ pressure eventually paid off in the 55th minute, as Port managed to pull one back when a corner from Deeromram found Japanese midfielder Noboru Shimura, whose powerful header reduced the deficit to 2-1.
Ranko introduced skipper Hariss Harun shortly after, as the team absorbed much of Port’s pressure before Song restored the Sailors’ two-goal lead in the 65th minute.
The goal, which came somewhat against the run of play, required a stroke of luck — Song’s shot deflected off Suphanan, looping over a wrongfooted Srisupha and landing in the net.
“In the second half, we knew they would come at us strongly, and we needed to survive the first 15 minutes, which we didn’t,” Ranko noted. “But after the third goal, I think we defended very comfortably, especially my back line working together with our keeper — they defended really, really well today.”
That third goal silenced most of the 1,478 fans in attendance, and despite Willen Mota’s introduction in the final quarter, Port could do little to alter the scoreline.
Indeed, it was the Sailors who had the better chances in the closing stages of the game, with Lennart Thy just falling short in the final third on two occasions. But it ultimately mattered not, as the Sailors consigned their Thai opponents to just their second defeat in 15 matches in all competitions.
The away win in this rescheduled AFC Champions League Two fixture extends the Sailors’ strong run of form, and Ranko’s charges will now return home to prepare for their Matchday Four encounter against Indonesia’s Persib Bandung at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Thursday, 7 November.
“We are very happy with where we are right now, and we’re looking forward to taking things match by match,” said a delighted Ranko. “Of course, we still have three matches to go, and we’ll do everything we can to reach the knockout phase.”