The Lion City Sailors continued their recent fine form as they put on a dominant display to defeat Brunei DPMM 3-0 at the Bishan Stadium on Saturday (3 August) evening.
Lennart Thy struck his second straight league brace, while Shawal Anuar scored the other as Aleksandar Ranković’s men notched up their third win in as many Singapore Premier League (SPL) matches.
With the victory, the Sailors remain second in the table, one point behind league-leading BG Tampines Rovers, who also picked up a 3-0 win against Tanjong Pagar United in a concurrent match.
Having kept the same starting eleven that plundered 13 goals in the last two matches, Ranko’s men started the game with red-hot intensity and chalked up 18 shots in the first 45 minutes.
However, a combination of great goalkeeping from DPMM goalkeeper Kristijan Naumovski and wasteful finishing meant the Sailors finished the first half with only a goal to the good.
The goal came deservedly in the 20th minute through Lennart, who scored in his third straight league game with a delightful backheel finish that deceived Naumovski, after being teed up by an inch-perfect pass from Maxime Lestienne.
With Lennart working well with the likes of Maxime, Song Uiyoung, and Shawal, the Sailors carved open the Bruneians’ defence time and again with delightful link-up play in the attacking third.
Shawal was especially influential in the build-up phase, as he unselfishly teed up Song, Lennart, and Maxime on three separate occasions, but their shots were all either blocked by the DPMM defence or repelled by the on-song Naumovski.
The Sailors picked up where they left off after the break, with Shawal finally doubling the advantage five minutes into the second half.
A lethal counter-attacking move saw Maxime releasing the 33-year-old, who gave DPMM centre-back Nurikhwan Othman the slip before coolly finishing underneath Naumovski for his eighth goal of the season.
Shawal could have scored a second on 67 minutes when Hami Syahin found him with a defence-splitting pass, but his attempted lob landed inches wide of the post.
But he quickly moved past that disappointment as he teed up Lennart for a crisp low finish from just outside the box to make it 3-0 two minutes later.
That strike was the German’s fifth goal in his last three games for the Sailors – a firm indication that he is now fully settled in after his move to the club just slightly more than two months ago.
“I’m really happy to be scoring now and it’s really enjoyable to be playing with this team. Hopefully there’s more to come in the coming games, and I want to keep helping the team secure the victories we need,” said the former PEC Zwolle forward, who was named the Man-of-the-Match.
The Sailors could have ended with more goals on the night, but Lionel’s header off Toni Datković’s sublime cross, and Lennart’s finish off Shawal’s delivery into the box were both denied by the offside flag.
Equally important, the Sailors defended resolutely throughout, with the centre-back pairing of Toni and Bailey Wright coming up trumps when it mattered. The duo made a number of crucial interceptions and swept up everything that came into their box to help the Sailors pick up their fourth clean sheet of the season.
Ahead of the Sailors’ participation in the inaugural ASEAN Club Championship (ACC) Shopee Cup, Coach Ranko hailed his side’s defensive solidity, as he said, “I’m really happy with how we defended as a team.
“It’s not just about the defenders; the key is how we work together as a team. It’s how we keep things compact, keeping the distance between attackers and defenders very tight to make it very difficult for the opposing team to penetrate us.
“The only critique is that we probably should have finished the game in the first half, but we bounced back really well in the past three games, and this run of form gives us a lot of confidence going into the Shopee Cup.”
The Sailors will now take a short break before turning their attention to the regional stage. Their next match will see them take on Indonesia’s Borneo FC Samarinda on 22 August in their opening Group B match of the Shopee Cup.
