Hopes of an unbeaten season for the Lion City Sailors evaporated after they suffered their first league defeat of the campaign in a 2-0 loss to Albirex Niigata in the penultimate Singapore Premier League (SPL) matchweek.
The Sunday (May 10) night encounter had begun in festive fashion, with the hosts receiving a guard of honour from their opponents, joined by family and friends as they celebrated their SPL title triumph at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
However, it soon turned sour as the White Swans netted two quickfire second-half goals to tarnish the Sailors’ pristine record.
Albirex striker Shingo Nakano also moved clear at the top of the scoring charts after netting his 19th league goal of the campaign in the 50th minute, with Sailors loanee Zulqaernan Suzliman’s goalbound effort three minutes later ruled as a Toni Datkovic own goal.
With BG Tampines Rovers (46 points) eking out a fortunate 1-0 win against a nine-man Hougang United at the Bishan Stadium courtesy of a late own goal by Saifullah Akbar, Albirex (44 points) will now need to beat Young Lions in their final league clash and hope the Sailors do them a favour against the Stags at Our Tampines Hub next Sunday (May 17) to secure second spot — and with it, a berth in the AFC Champions League Two.
“The boys worked really hard, and in terms of mentality, it was a perfect performance,” Albirex head coach Keiji Shigetomi said. “In the first half, the opponents did not put out a strong starting eleven, but it didn’t matter to us because it was a must-win game. When the opponents brought on Kyoga and their strong foreign players, our players showed good defence and discipline and worked hard till the end.”
With the title in the bag and only the bragging rights of an ‘invincible’ season at stake, the Sailors made wholesale changes to their starting lineup with seven swaps from their last league outing against Tampines when they sealed the championship.
The club’s top two goalscorers, Lennart Thy (14 goals) and Anderson Lopes (11 goals), were left on the bench, with 1.82m Brazilian defensive midfielder Lucas Agueiro deployed up front to lead the line.
“Today was a strange match because obviously we won the title last week, so while the aim was still to win, Albirex’s motivation was naturally much higher. But I think the match was more or less balanced and they just scored from two key moments,” said Sailors head coach Jesus Casas.
“I think Lucas Agueiro had a good match. Obviously, it’s not easy for him after going without many minutes during the season, but we wanted to try him there… This is the right moment to experiment, we’ve already won the title, so it’s a good opportunity to test some aspects of the team.”
Neither side really threatened in the opening half, an all too familiar sight from last week’s goalless encounter between the Sailors and Tampines.
But with the onus on the visitors to get the win in their chase for second spot, they seized the initiative after the interval, with winger Yang Hyeon-ju putting his cross on a plate for Nakano to head home.
There was barely any breathing time for the Sailors before Albirex doubled their lead.
Some tricky footwork by Yang left Sailors fullback Akram Azman for dead, and his acute angle shot was saved by custodian Ivan Susak, but some quick reflexes saw the North Korean fizz the ball back in to Zulqaernan, who was on hand to prod home.
Zulqaernan’s goal was eventually given as an own goal as it was deemed to have hit the right foot of Datkovic on its way in.
The right-back, whose goal would have been his first since April 2022 had it stood, was shocked to receive the Player of the Match award, instead directing the praise to teammate Yang, who took his tally to 10 assists for the season, despite only arriving at the club mid-season.
“We want to make history for Albirex. We are a local team, and we are eligible to play in the Asian Champions League Two, so it’s a boost and motivation for us to chase the second spot,” he said.
Teammate and captain Shingo Nakano was also pleased to keep his side in the hunt for the coveted second spot with the victory, adding that the Golden Boot race was the last thing on his mind.
“Before the game, we talked about the Sailors’ unbeaten run. But we knew it was more important for us to get to the second spot. We are happy to beat them, and having a chance going into the final day is really important.”
“We have played so many games together as a team, and we have to show everyone what we’ve got. I have already played here for two years, and I want to give everything for this team in the last game.”
