Last season’s finalists, Lion City Sailors, just about clung on in their bid to make the AFC Asian Champions League Two knockouts, squeezing past bogey side Persib Bandung 3-2.
The Sailors had yet to beat the Indonesian side over their last three encounters but finally tasted redemption on Wednesday (Nov 26), a year after Persib came from 2-0 down to beat the Sailors 3-2 at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
Describing last year’s loss as the “most painful of his career”, Sailors head coach Aleksandar Rankovic was pleased to get one over the reigning Super League champions.
And with head-to-head results taking precedence over goal difference for teams level on points, the Sailors’ hopes of making the next round now hinge on them winning their final group match against Selangor and Bangkok beating Persib.
“Like today, we need to win. So for the next game, nothing changes. The task remains the same. I’m not thinking about the other match because it’s out of our hands.
“Selangor won’t be easy. They’re at home, it’s their last ACL match, and they’ll want to show something,” Rankovic said.
At a sold-out Bishan Stadium with 2,578 spectators, substitutes Hami Syahin and Maxime Lestienne sparked life into a Sailors side that looked to be headed for elimination as they trailed 2-1 before the pair’s introduction on the hour mark.
“Everybody who came in was excellent,” Rankovic said. “About Maxime, we know what he can do… His impact on the team is enormous, not just as a player but also as a person. We missed him a lot last month, and we are happy that he’s back.
Just a minute after coming on, Lestienne delivered a teasing cross that Persib defender Frans Putros couldn’t deal with, and Sailors forward Shawal Anuar reacted quickest, swivelling to fire home.
Nine minutes later, Hami Syahin wriggled out of pressure before floating a looping ball to Anderson Lopes, who finished with aplomb.
“I’m happy to score an important goal, but it’s all a team effort. You could see how much we ran… We wanted very much to win this game, and we showed it through our character and how we played.”
The hosts struck first, against the run of play, when Lennart Thy brought down a Lionel Tan long ball with one touch before dinking it over goalkeeper Teja Paku Alam with the next.
But the visitors produced an instant reply from a clever short-corner move, with Putros steering the ball past a swarm of defenders and into the bottom corner.
French striker Andrew Jung put his side ahead in the 56th minute, glancing a header beyond Sailors keeper Ivan Susak for his fourth goal of the group stage.
Then came Shawal and Lopes’ strikes to breathe life into the Sailors’ knockout stage bid.
But they are not out of the woods yet, as Rankovic highlighted trouble “setting up his team over the last two weeks” with veteran defenders Safuwan Baharudin, Hariss Harun, Bailey Wright (suspension) and Dutch midfielder Bart Ramselaar all out of action.
A makeshift bench saw the inclusion of four full-backs and two keepers on the night, but Rankovic will take comfort in knowing that Wright will return to the squad for their ASEAN Club Championship tie against Bangkok United on Dec 4, before they face Selangor away on Dec 10.
