The Lion City Sailors delivered an assured performance to beat title rivals FC Jurong 2-0 at the Jurong East Stadium on Sunday (18 October), ending their wait for a victory at the venue after eight winless visits.

Goals in either half from Giovanni Haag and Shawal Anuar secured all three points in the Singapore Premier League (SPL) clash as Mark Jackson’s men made it three consecutive wins in all competitions.

Coming just three days after a hard-fought away victory over Tai Po FC in the AFC Champions League (ACL) Two, the result was further evidence of the Sailors’ growing confidence under their new Head Coach.

For Jackson, his side’s mentality was key to overcoming both the short turnaround and their difficult recent record at the ground.

“We had a short turnaround for this game. The main thing tonight was our mentality,” said the Englishman.

“Everybody told me what a tough place this is to come and get a result, as our record here hasn’t been good in the past. However, the boys showed a fantastic mentality from start to finish and didn’t let what happened in the past affect them.”

Jackson made three changes to the side that won in Hong Kong, bringing Ryhan Stewart, Hariss Harun and Kyoga Nakamura into the starting line-up. Jurong, meanwhile, were without injured former Sailors Christopher van Huizen and Akram Azman.

Despite pre-match concerns over the haze, with the new FAS-SPL Haze Management Protocol in place, the match kicked off as scheduled and the Sailors quickly forced a couple of corners.

The hosts carved out the first clear opening in the 11th minute, when Haziq Kamarudin drove into the box but fired into the side netting. The Sailors remained composed, however, patiently building their attacks as they began to take control.

Kyoga and Ryhan both sent efforts off target before the latter delivered a cross that Ilhan Fandi headed over in the 23rd minute. 

Matthias Phaëton and Giovanni then had goals ruled out for offside in the build-up, but the Sailors’ sustained pressure eventually brought its reward.

A persistent threat down the left, Diogo Costa drew a lunging challenge from Kim Yoonsik inside the box to earn the visitors a penalty.

“It’s always a tough pitch for everyone who comes to play at the Jurong East Stadium, but I felt the breakthrough goal was always going to come because we were playing well,” said Diogo.

Giovanni duly stepped up to send Hassan Sunny the wrong way from the spot in the 41st minute, as he opened his Sailors account with a goal he dedicated to his wife.

It was also the French midfielder’s first league goal since scoring a direct free-kick for Red Star FC in Ligue 2 in September 2025.

With Ryhan and Hariss helping to keep Jurong at bay, the Sailors had controlled much of the half. And while their lead was much deserved, Jackson felt greater precision in attack could have yielded a more comfortable advantage.

“We were in full control of the game in the first half. We were just lacking a bit of quality in the final third. At times, our players made good runs into the box without the end product. I thought the first half was probably the most dominant part of our game,” said Jackson.

Jurong looked to respond after the restart, with Sim Jun Yen testing Victor Aznar at his near post in the 47th minute. That ultimately proved to be the hosts’ only shot on target all evening, as the Sailors comfortably held the hosts at bay.

At the other end, Jackson turned to Shawal in search of a sharper cutting edge, introducing the Singapore international for Ilhan on the hour mark.

The change paid off in the 77th minute, with Diogo again at the heart of the move. The Portuguese full-back cut inside and picked out Shawal, whose perfectly timed run allowed him to double the lead and mark his first appearance since returning from national team duty with a goal.

That also meant the 35-year-old has now netted for a 12th consecutive SPL campaign, continuing a longstanding run which started in 2015. 

Both teams then made changes, with Antonio Mance coming on for the Sailors in the closing 10 minutes, while Jurong introduced their headline signing Keisuke Honda in a bid to claw a goal back.

But it ultimately proved a fruitless night for Jurong, as Victor marked his 24th birthday with a clean sheet on his SPL debut, before being serenaded by the Sailors fans during the post-match celebrations.

“I think we completely dominated both halves in this match. It’s good to have contributed to both goals, but the most important thing is the three points,” said Diogo, who was adjudged the Man of the Match on his 60th Sailors appearance and now has 24 assists overall for the club. 

Jackson was equally pleased with the full-back’s influence on a memorable away win.

“Diogo has got fantastic energy and can go up and down the pitch all day long. He is a fantastic talent and contributed massively to a great away performance,” he said.

While ending the Sailors’ winless run against the Swans at Jurong East provided another boost to confidence, Jackson stressed that his side still have work to do as they adapt to his playing philosophy.

“We are growing in our understanding of how we want to play as a team. We have some very creative players and we need to get them firing more,” said the 49-year-old.

“We work on every phase of the game and are constantly looking at how to improve. The area where we need to be more consistent is probably our execution in the final third. When we put in a good cross, we didn’t get the timing of the runs in the box right, and vice versa. That consistency needs to improve.”

Elsewhere in the SPL on Sunday, Tampines Rovers came from behind to beat Young Lions 4-1 and maintain their perfect start with three wins from three matches.

The Sailors, who defeated the Stags in the season-opening Community Shield before going three matches without a win, have now put together three successive victories as they begin to find their rhythm under Jackson.

They will look to extend that run when they host Tanjong Pagar United at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Sunday, 25 October.

“It’s all about creating momentum and I have to say these boys are responding really well,” said Jackson.

“That bodes well for a good season, but we need to keep it going. We need to keep our foot on the gas and keep learning and developing. Tonight was a big step forward for us.”