Lion City Sailors came agonisingly close to ending their hoodoo against Bangkok United, having endured four consecutive defeats against the Thai side, only to concede a 77th-minute Seia Kunori equaliser and settle for a share of the spoils at a sparsely populated Pathum Thani Stadium.
Maxime Lestienne, who scored his side’s opener in their second ASEAN Club Championship clash this season with an audacious effort from the corner of the box, rued his side’s profligacy in front of goal.
“First, we were 2-0 up, then they came back to 2-2. It’s unlucky, but we take the result. We can be proud because we gave everything, but I think we have to win this game
“We had many chances today…. We conceded goals, but we had the opportunity today to score more and to kill the game earlier,” the winger said.
The draw leaves Lion City Sailors in fourth place, just ahead of Bangkok United on goal difference. In the group’s other matches, Nam Dinh defeated Shan United 3-0, while Cambodian side Svay Rieng produced a shock 2-2 draw against Malaysian giants Johor Darul Ta’zim. Svay Rieng had led by two goals for most of regulation time, only for two late strikes from the Southern Tigers to snatch a point.
Sailors head coach Aleksandar Rankovic described the draw as a fair result but insisted that the group remains wide open with three matches still to play.
The visitors raced to an early lead, taking just eleven minutes to draw first blood.
Midfielder Tsiy Ndenge went on a marauding run forward, sucking in all the pressure from the opposition before releasing Hami Syahin, who then unleashed Lestienne on the right. The Belgian then uncorked a rasper from range, his shot so ferocious it threatened to rip the net from its stanchions.
Just ten minutes later, Ndenge was involved in the build-up once more when he played Anderson Lopes through on the break. The Brazilian did well to hold off Philipe Maia before sliding one home at the near post.
But the hosts found an instant reply through defender Jakkaphan Praisuwan, who was given far too much space just outside the box by the Sailors’ defence. The experienced defender displayed fine technique, fizzing a shot past the onrushing Toni Datkovic and leaving Sailors’ keeper Ivan Susak flat-footed between the posts.
The game was much quieter for the remainder of the first half and the early stages of the second, with Bangkok enjoying a greater share of possession and chances.
Following a triple change by Bangkok on the hour mark, which brought on Dutch winger Ilias Alhaft, Luka Adzic, and Thitipan Puangchan, they eventually found their equaliser when Seia Kunori was perfectly positioned to sweep home an Alhaft cross.
The leveller also marked the former Tampines man’s first goal in regional competitions for his new club and helped him to the player-of-the-match award.
“In the second half, we should have scored maybe one or two goals more, but we knew that the pressure was going to come, especially with the changes they made,” Rankovic said, adding that an understrength bench compounded his side’s problems.
But the Sailors will have little time to dwell on what might have been, as they prepare to face Selangor in a do-or-die final group game in the AFC Asian Champions League 2, with a place in the knockout stages at stake.
They will need to resolve their personnel availability issues if they hope to mount a challenge in Selangor, with Rankovic confirming that Lopes has sustained an injury and German striker Lennart Thy may miss the match to be with his wife for the birth of their child.
The Sailors return to the ACC on Dec 17 when they face Shan United at home.
