Tanjong Pagar United 0-2 Albirex Niigata
24 September 2013
Queenstown Stadium
Scorers Sakamoto 9', Suzuki 35' pen

By Ong Jiing Yih

A workmanlike display by Albirex Niigata failed to convince despite a win against an out-of-sorts Tanjong Pagar United.

It was a case of deja vu as Tanjong Pagar conceded the opening goal of the match for the fourth time in a row, a needless corner allowing Kazuki Sakamoto to flick into goal Kento Fukuda's wayward header.

Bruno Junichi Suzuki Castanheira then took eternity before going down following a challenge from Zahid Ahmad, Shingo Suzuki doubling the advantage from the spot.

Tried as they might, the hosts found the opposition tough and hard to breach.

Even the kitchen was thrown at the visitors during a second half of concerted pressure but without the desired outcome.

Decked out in their away kit at home once again, the hosts began at a time when Head coach Patrick Vallee, Asraf Rashid and Ahmad Latiff were all suspended.

On the plus side, Hafiz Osman led out the side as Zahid Ahmad and Monsef Zerka made welcome returns.

Kazuya Fukuzaki made a rare start for the visitors as the thoughts of delaying title celebrations of Tampines Rovers remained uppermosts in the minds of his coach Koichi Sugiyama and rest of the team.

Earlier on, a loose ball let in Sakamoto but Herisson made a routine save to prevent any unsavory outcomes.

However, the unfortunate Aurelien Herisson inadvertently slipped as he caught the ball minutes later.

Kento Nagasaki swung in goalwards, paving the way for Sakamoto to stoop and head home the first goal after 540 seconds gone.

Albirex played as the would in their usual way, content to maintain possession without over-exerting themselves in attack.

Hence little surprise of any action in the way for the hosts until the 20th minute.

A mistake let in Zerka, who exchanged passes with Ismael Benahmed before the latter slipped in Hafiz Nor, whose effort went out for a corner.

The next possible chance on goal arrived in the 33rd minute when Benahmed flashed in a low ball across the box, only for Zerka to lash wide from the edge of the box.

However, all it took for the game to turn was a decision against the Jaguars.

Zahid and Castanheira went into a tussle and although the former looked to have come out tops, the match referee thought otherwise and point to the spot.

Up stepped the veteran Suzuki to increase the Swans' advantage.

Kamel Ramdani finally made the ball work, thumping the crossbar with a header off a cross from K. Vikraman to represent the sole noteworthy goalscoring threat of their first half.

Benahmed was next to create the next opening, an improvised backheel attempt which Horiaki Hara grabbed with ease.

The Frenchman was in the thick of action again, forcing Yuki Ichikawa to go to ground as he was denied a clean strike of the ball.

In the meantime, with options limited there was an urgency for the likes of Azhar Ahmad and Vikraman to rake in a stream of testing crosses.

That did not put off Castanheira who eked out a low effort which amounted to little threat.

Zerka was about to pounce onto Ramdani's lofted pass four minutes from time, but for Ichikawa to clear the danger in time.

With this latest loss, it means the Jaguars have to double up their attempts for the remaining half round fixtures in the S.League, in order to stay in contention for third place at least.

Once again, Head coach Vallee absolved his side of any blame as he lauded their spirit.

“Sure, we want to try for a better position at the top of the table. I don't want to complain but there were a lot of injuries. I mean, do we deserve to get the five yellow cards we got?

“I'm a little disappointed; not sure if Albirex deserved to win. Two mistakes from my team, and all they took was a corner and a penalty for them to win. We're not so lucky at this moment but the players do and try their best. That's football; it goes for you sometimes, it doesn't sometimes. The season's not over – we work again to be ready.”

Tanjong Pagar United:
Aurelien Herisson, Anthony Aymard, Hafiz Osman(c) (Walid Lounis 80'), Hanafi Salleh, Azhar Ahmad, Ismael Benahmed, Kamel Ramdani, Hafiz Nor, Monsef Zerka, K Vikraman, Zahid Ahmad
Head Coach: Patrick Vallee
Booked: Zahid 40', Vikraman 71', Hanafi 83', Azhar 89'

Albirex Niigata (S):
Hiroaki Hara, Yuki Ichikawa, Shuhei Hotta (c), Kento Fukuda, Itsuki Yamada, Bruno Junichi Sukuzi Castanheira, Shingo Suzuki, Kento Nagasaki (Hiroki Morisaki 90'), Kazuki Sakamoto (Yoshinaga Arima 88'), Masatake Sato, Kazuya Fukuzaki (Takeshi Nagasawa 58')
Head coach: Koichi Sugiyama
Booked: Ichikawa 82'

Referee: Leow Thiam Hoe
Assistant Referee: K Surindranath & Er Swee Ann