By Song Sung Hai

A missed penalty kick and several dubious calls ensured that the Jaguars lost 2-1 to the White Swans at Queenstown Stadium last evening.

It took the White Swans only three minutes to go ahead when a swift counterattack saw Kento Nagasaki scoring with an unstoppable half-volley from just outside the box.

The Jaguars soon took control of the match but could not convert several chances, including a penalty kick given in the 20th minute. Masrezwan Masturi, starting in place of an injured Monsef Zerka, was pulled down in the box as he was about to receive a cross in from Ruzaini Zainal.

Kamel Ramdani opted to take the spot-kick but smashed the ball into the left-hand post and the Jaguears were denied an equaliser.

Aurelien Herisson also had to make some good saves to keep the Jaguars in the game, with the notable ones being a one-on-one save against Kazuya Fukuzaki and a point-blank save from a Kazuki Sakamoto attempt.

Keisuke Ota extended the lead in the 59th minute with a stupendous shot from the edge of box which gave Aurelien no chance at all.

A questionable offside call denied the Jaguars an equaliser a few minutes later when Hafiz Osman headed the ball in, with the linesman pulling the flag up on an onrushing Masrezwan Masturi.

The Jaguars however, did pull one back when Monsef Zerka, who came on in the 71st minute for Masrezwan Masturi, converted a penalty-kick in the 83rd minute but it was too little too late by then for the Jaguars.

Head Coach Patrick Vallée was livid with the result and the decisions against his team but was heartened to see the manner his team fought on.

He said, “I feel very bad for my players especially. If there is a game they deserve to win this season, it will be this game. My players bounced back after the lucky first goal and I like my team, my players, how they showed their fighting spirit and mentality.”

Patrick also rued the way the season had been for the team and how his team should have gotten at least four penalty-kicks last evening.

“The referee may have given two penalties but it doesn’t matter how many he has given, if he sees a penalty then he should give it,” he added. “However, I still enjoyed the way we played, creating many chances and this is the way to play for Tanjong Pagar in order for us to continue to get results.”

So it was that Albirex Niigata managed to walk away with a fortunate one goal margin victory and will move up to fifth on the table to keep up their title chase. The Jaguars will now have to get ready for a trip to Choa Chu Kang next Monday to face the Warriors.

Till next time!

LINE UPS

Tanjong Pagar United: Aurelien Herisson, Anthony Aymard, Hafiz Osman, Sebastien Etiemble, Asraf Rashid, Ahmad Latiff, Kamel Ramdani, Firdaus Idros (Tengku Mushadad 87′), Ruzaini Zainal, Sazali Salleh, Masrezwan Masturi (Monsef Zerka 71′)
Substitutes: Hanafi Salleh, Monsef Zerka, Tengku Mushadad, Shamsudin Hashim, Nor Azli Yusoff, Zahid Ahmad, Zairul Rahmat
Head Coach: Patrick Vallée
Cautions: Ahmad Latiff (44′), Sebastien Etiemble (73′)

Albirex Niigata (S): Kazuki Kishigami, Norihiro Kawakami, Koki Akasaka, Itsuki Yamada, Keisuke Ota, Kosuke Matsuda, Kento Nagasaki, Kazuki Sakamoto, Kazuya Fukuzaki, Soichiro Fukuzaki, Shuhei Hotta
Substitutes: Kenjiro Ogino, Taiyo Nishida, Koya Yoshida, Hiroki Morisaki, Ikuma Osaka, Niji Sasadaira, Kaoru Nishio
Head Coach: Tatsuyuki Okuyama
Cautions: Soichiro Tanaka (41′), Taiyo Nishida (82′)

Referee: Ahmad A’Qashah
Asst Ref 1: Edwin Lee
Asst Ref 2: John Doo
Fourth Official: Muhd Syarqawi