S LEAGUE - SINGAPORE - NEWS

WHITE SWANS SNEAK IN LATE EQUALISER TO EARN DRAW

 

Written By: Nigel Chin

Albirex Niigata (S) were let off the hook after Itsuki Yamada scored an equaliser right at the death to secure a point for the White Swans against Hougang United on Friday evening.

Despite having majority of the possession the entire game, they failed to make full use of it.

Instead, it was the Cheetahs who looked as though they were going to score in almost every counter-attack they made.

The result meant that Albirex dropped two valuable points and failed to close the gap on Brunei DPMM at the top of the table, with the Bruneians taking on Balestier Khalsa on Saturday evening.

Albirex did have a good start to the game and had a golden opportunity to take the lead.

However, Rui Kumada fired over with just Hougang custodian Ridhuan Barudin to beat after Itsuki Yamada sent him through with a sweet pass in the 11th minute.

Seven minutes later, Diego Gama smashed a header into the crossbar from Fairoz Hasan’s cross, before the latter sent a header flying over despite being unmarked after getting onto the end of Nurhilmi Jasni’s cross.

 

But midway into the first-half, Hougang found the breakthrough. A long punt from behind was latched on by Vuk Sotirovic, and the burly striker found Nurhilmi Jasni with a cut-back and the Hougang captain made no mistake with his finish, side-footing the ball into the top corner.

The Cheetahs could have extended their lead just before half-time through yet another counter, but Fairoz got his header all wrong after reacting first to Delwinder Singh’s cross.

They wasted another opportunity just a minute after the restart, with Sotirovic firing into the side-netting after Fairoz had set him up perfectly.

A seemingly harmless corner from Carlos Delgado in the 53rd minute was then headed towards Gama by Kento Fujihara, but the striker nodded the ball over from three yards.

One minute later, Hougang appealed for a penalty after Gama was hauled down by Fujihara as they tussled for the ball, but referee Ahmad A’Qashah was unconvinced.

Albirex slowly regained their rhythm in the match but failed to break down Hougang’s sturdy back-four, marshalled superbly by the experienced Tengku Mushahdad.

 

Fairoz spurned another decent chance at the other end to wrap up the win, after failing to beat Mikiya Yamada despite being sent racing through by Sotirovic.

Albirex duly punished their opponents for their failure to take their chances, with the goal coming from the most unlikely source in the last minute of regulation time.

A cross into the box from Rion Taki dropped for Itsuki Yamada inside the box after Shotaro Ihata failed to control it. The left-back went for goal, and the ball took a heavy deflection off Tengku before bouncing into goal, with Ridhuan unable to react in time.

There was still time for Hougang to almost grab a winner right before full-time though.

Nurhilmi launched a counter and found Fazli Jaffar on the left, who in turn crossed for fellow substitute Fareez Farhan, but his effort was hacked off the line by Fujihara as Albirex held on for a share of the spoils.

Hougang United: Ridhuan Barudin (GK), Delwinder Singh, Tengku Mushahdad, Kunihiro Yamashita, Lau Meng Meng, Nurhilmi Jasni (C), Carlos Delgado, Atsushi Shimono, Fairoz Hasan (Fazli Jaffar 75’), Diego Gama (Fareez Farhan 89’), Vuk Sotirovic

Albirex Niigata (S): Yosuke Nozawa (GK)(C), Mikiya Yamada, Kento Fujihara, Takahiro Saito, Itsuki Yamada, Hikaru Mizano, Kento Nagasaki (Atsushi Kawata 64’), Shun Inaba, Rui Kumada (Shotaro Ihata 74’), Fumiya Kogure, Rion Taki