The Lion City Sailors stormed to a third consecutive victory at the start of the 2025/26 Singapore Premier League (SPL) season as they defeated Tanjong Pagar United 7-0 at the Jurong East Stadium on Monday (22 September) night.
Centre forwards Lennart Thy and Anderson Lopes each struck twice, while Diogo Costa, Rui Pires, and Song Uiyoung also found the net in what was the Sailors’ 18th straight win over the Jaguars.
“We were very dominant tonight, especially in the first half. All the credit goes to the boys. I didn’t expect such a big result, honestly. With three disallowed goals, the scoreline could have been even bigger,” said Head Coach Aleksandar Ranković after the match.
The Sailors entered the match on the back of a dramatic 1-1 draw away to Indonesia’s Persib Bandung in their Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Champions League (ACL) Two opener, where Lennart struck a stoppage-time equaliser to secure a valuable point.
Handed a start against Tanjong Pagar, the German picked up where he left off in the 14th minute, as he met Maxime Lestienne’s perfectly weighted cross with a header that crashed in off the underside of the bar to open the scoring.
Bart Ramselaar was equally bright in the final third, forcing Zaiful Nizam into a save before flashing another effort wide.
His lively start eventually paid off in the 28th minute, when he weaved past two defenders on the byline before squaring across goal for Diogo to bundle home his first SPL goal.
The hosts threatened briefly when ex-Sailor Naqiuddin Eunos struck the post, but Ranko’s men restored control in the seventh minute of first-half stoppage time, as Song’s long ball was expertly brought down by Lennart, who coolly lifted it over Zaiful for 3-0.
“The whole team’s performance was convincing from the first minute. We wanted to be aggressive and dominant in this match,” said Lennart, who was later named Player of the Match.
Just three minutes later, the Sailors made it 4-0. Maxime’s corner fell to Lennart, who teed up Rui, and the Portuguese midfielder unleashed a thunderous strike from outside the box for his first-ever senior career goal.
The moment sparked joyous celebrations from his teammates, with Rui having only previously scored at youth level for FC Porto in the UEFA Youth League.
There was still time for another before the break, as Song’s powerful effort deflected off Tanjong Pagar captain Aaron Evans to make it 5-0 at half-time.
In the second half, Ranko brought on Tsiy Ndenge, Hami Syahin, Abdul Rasaq Akeem, Hafiz Nor, and Anderson Lopes, with the Brazilian especially eager to open his account for the club.
And the Brazilian finally did so in the 84th minute via another Evans deflection, before adding a second in stoppage time — this time, with a composed low finish from Bart’s pass to round off a commanding 7-0 victory.
“Anderson was very good after coming off the bench. Maybe he could even have scored one more,” Ranko smiled. “When you have two strikers who can score at any moment, it makes my job easy.”
Both Lennart and Anderson have now staked strong claims for the central striker’s role, a selection dilemma Ranko is happy to have.
“In that position, I have four players. All of them can play, all of them can start,” he noted. “Sometimes I rotate because some may need a bit more rest. Even when Lenny didn’t start the previous few matches, we know he can score goals, so there’s no surprise.”
The emphatic win rounded off a strong September for the Sailors, who now turn their focus to the continental front as they face Malaysia Super League giants Selangor FC next Wednesday (1 October) in the Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) Two.
