By Fujimiya Hiroya

Two goals from Shi Jiayi and a quickfire double from Irwan Shah and Nicholas Velez sealed a 4-1 win over the Jaguars at Choa Chu Kang Stadium yesterday evening.

The Jaguars started the game without Monsef Zerka who was still nursing an ankle injury as Head Coach Patrick Vallee opted for a 4-2-3-1 formation with Sebastien Etiemble as the lone striker.

Firdaus Idros breached the Warriors defenses early in the 5th minute but assistant referee Ronnie Koh has his flag up for offside.

Nicholas Velez was the first to try a shot on the Jaguars goal but his shot sailed past the post.

The hosts earned a corner in the 14th minute which the Jaguars failed to clear. A resulting goal mouth scramble found Shi Jiayi unmarked at the farpost and he made no mistake by firing his shot past Herisson and into the Jaguars’ net.

Warriors however, were pinned back after scoring the opening goal with the Jaguars running rampage all over. The team soon pulled level after a Firdaus Idros cross found Sebastien Etiemble who ran in from deep into the box. With all the time he had in the world, Etiemble headed the ball perfectly past Warriors custodian Hassan Sunny, leveling the score in the 37th minute.

The equalizer was short-lived, however, as Shi Jiayi restored the lead for the hosts in the 39th minute. A Warriors corner was played short after which a cross was sent deep into the far post, again of the Jaguars danger area finding an unmarked Jiayi who headed past Herisson.

Both teams came out from the dressing room after half time and displayed a tightly contested affair which could have gone either way in the starting 10 minutes. But hopes of clinching a point was halted by two quick goals from Irwan Shah and Nicholas Velez in the 57th and 58th minute, sealing a 4-1 win for Warriors.

Vallee could not hide his disappointment but stressed that he appreciated the fighting spirit the team showed.

“We have three tough games this week. Against Warriors today and two RHB Cup games next, against Tampines Rovers. For Warriors the situation is different now because they are free from the RHB Cup already,” Vallee said in the post match interview.

“So for this game, I tried to make some changes in the team so I can keep my players fit for Friday’s game.”

“I am just disappointed for the second goal which came too fast after we equalized. I thought we could be able to do something in the second half, but we conceded two very quick goals. It is not good for us, and we have to analyze what happened. But I cannot blame my players for this game because they tried their best. But in football, sometimes it is like that.”

“Latiff is important to the squad and I know that. But I cannot complain about missing him because he is being suspended for today’s game. When I miss one player, I have to handle it. But that doesn’t take away the fact he is important to the squad.”

The 4-1 result meant that Warriors had managed to maintain the gap between themselves and Brunei DPMM while the a defeat at the hands of Hougang meant that Geylang was not able to pull away from the Jaguars.

With that, the S.League goes into a short pause as we focus on the RHB Singapore Cup quarter-finals coming up this Friday at Jalan Besar Stadium where the Jaguars will face Tampines Rovers.

See you there!

Lineups

Tanjong Pagar United: Aurelien Herisson, Anthony Aymard, Hafiz Osman, Hanafi Salleh, Sebastien Etiemble, Asraf Rashid, Kamel Ramdani, Firdaus Idros, Ruzaini Zainal, Tengku Mushadad and Zahid Ahmad
Substitutes: Shamsudin Hashim, Monsef Zerka, Nor Azli Yusoff, Shafiq Noh, Zairul Rahmat, Afiq Tan
Head Coach: Patrick Vallee
Cautions: Ruzaini Zainal (22′),

Warriors: Hassan Sunny, Zulfadli Zainal, Ismail Yunos, Shi Jiayi, Miroslav Pejic, Nicholas Velez, Marin Vidosevic, Kevin McCann, Daniel Bennett, Irwan Shah, Hafiz Rahim
Substitutes: Dharham Aziz, Hafsyar Farkhan, Zulfadhli Emran, Neezam Aziz, Chang Guo Guang, Agu Casmir, Suria Prakash
Head Coach: Alex Weaver
Cautions: Irwan Shah (29′), Marin Vidosevic

Referee: W. Ravisanthiran
Asst Ref 1: Ronnie Koh
Asst Ref 2: Manoj Kalwani
Fourth Official: Lim Kok Heng