The Lion City Sailors slumped out of continental competition once again following their AFC Asian Champions League Two (ACL2) exit in December, finishing fourth in Group B of the Shopee Cup, also known as the ASEAN Club Championship (ACC), after a dispiriting 2-0 loss to Cambodian champions PKR Svay Rieng at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Thursday (Feb 5) night.
“We set out with big goals and big targets to do better in these competitions compared to last year… But we were not good enough, and we will look at ourselves and analyse. We have to pick ourselves up for the league campaign that resumes on Sunday,” Sailors skipper Bailiey Wright said.
In stark contrast to their continental fortunes, the recently crowned Singapore Cup champions have been flying domestically, racking up a perfect eight wins from eight in the Singapore Premier League.
But even before a ball was kicked on Thursday, the Sailors’ fate in the ACC had already been sealed.
Second-placed Johor Darul Ta’zim of Malaysia sat on 10 points from four matches, and with the Sailors managing just four points from the same number of games, qualification for the knockout stages was already beyond reach.
But even with nothing on the line, the Sailors limped to a toothless defeat at the hands of last year’s AFC Challenge League finalist, to the delight of a small section of away fans decked out in blue.
“The players gave their best. They are also a bit burned out from the last couple of weeks. For us, this tournament was never easy, but we knew that when we started,” Sailors head coach Aleksandar Rankovic said, admitting that the campaign was a disappointing one.
“We worked hard, at home against a good side, but conceding two goals is disappointing and not good enough from us,” Wright added.
A second-half brace from Brazilian attacker Patrick Robson consigned the Sailors to just one win, a 3-2 victory over Shan United, and a second straight group-stage exit in the competition.
“We started the game well. We came here to win, and we controlled the first half and managed to score twice in the second half,” Patrick said, crediting his side’s teamwork for the hard-earned away victory.
Meanwhile, the Sailors’ disastrous night was compounded when Diogo Costa hobbled off late in the game.
It was the Sailors’ Brazilian attacker Anderson Lopes who fashioned the early chances, with both his efforts parried away by opposing goalkeeper Dara Vireak as the sides went into the break goalless.
But it took just seven minutes after the restart for the visitors to break the deadlock.
A low cross into the area was not dealt with and trickled past the entire Sailors defence, allowing an unmarked Patrick Robson to pounce on the loose ball and blast it past goalkeeper Ivan Susak.
His second, and fourth overall in the ACC this term, arrived from the same flank, as he left Akram Azman and Shawal Anuar for dead with some nifty footwork before picking out the bottom corner with Susak rooted to the spot.
Despite Svay Rieng still due to face Bangkok United, after their earlier meeting was postponed with the latter citing security concerns, the four teams to progress to the tournament’s semi-final stage have already been determined.
Thailand’s Buriram and Malaysia’s Selangor top Group A on nine points apiece, with Buriram ahead on goal difference (+9 to Selangor’s +4), while Vietnam’s Nam Dinh leads Group B with 13 points and Johor Darul Ta’zim sits second on 11.
