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“Better” Borges brings Balestier point
Yeo Kheng Hui
info@sleague.com
“Much better” was Balestier Khalsa coach Nasaruddin Jalil’s appraisal of his charges’ performance as they came from behind to secure a 1-1 draw against Albirex Niigata (Singapore) at Toa Payoh Stadium on Monday evening.
The result snapped a two-match losing streak for the Tigers, and marked the first time they found the back of the net since beating Woodlands Wellington 2-1 at the end of June.
The home side started brightly, and created several chances to go ahead. On 10 minutes, Daniel Hammond met a cross from Nurhilmi Jasni, but could only put his header over the bar.
Livewire Brazilian forward Vitor Borges was a threat to the White Swans whenever he had the ball, beating defenders and causing panic in the Albirex defence. His cross on 15 minutes, though, failed to find any red shirts, much to the relief of Yoshito Matsushita in the Albirex goal.
Shortly afterwards, he fooled the Albirex defence with his fancy footwork, but could only muster a shot right at Matsushita.
Matsushita was on hand to save another attempt from a Brazilian, this time Rivaldo Costa, who had received the ball from a counteroffensive led by Andrew Tan.
Borges took charge of the Tigers’ next counter, but no one was on the receiving end of his square pass on 23 minutes.
The Albirex side were under intense pressure from the hosts, but managed to avoid conceding a goal.
Albirex took advantage of their hosts’ hospitality and made themselves even more unwelcome by going ahead on 37 minutes.
Satoshi Hida played a one-two with overlapping leftback Kazuki Kobayashi, before serving up a delicious cross for the onrushing half-Brazilian forward Bruno Suzuki Castanheira.
Castanheira buried his header past the reach of the despairing Ahmadulhaq Che Omar to give the White Swans the lead. Almost like in a Hollywood script, Albirex had stolen the advantage after all the hard work put in by the Tigers.
And then it was almost two.
Hida sensed Ahmadulhaq off his line and lofted the ball over the Balestier back four from 35 yards out, but the bounce was well read by the Tigers’ goalkeeper, who made the catch look easy.
The hosts went into the dressing rooms 0-1 down, but not cowed.
The second period began like the first, with Balestier putting Albirex under pressure.
This time, on 66 minutes, that pressure paid off.
Nurhilmi’s free kick on the left was floated in for Borges, and the Brazilian found the same spot Castanheira did in the first half with a well-taken shot.
1-1, and Balestier were back in it.
Albirex manager Koichi Sugiyama brought on Tatsuro Inui for Hida shortly after, and the replacement winger very nearly made an immediate impact.
Slotting into the same position that Hida was playing in, Inui easily found his way past Mushthafa Kamal on the Balestier left. The rest of the Balestier defence came to his rescue, though, denying Inui entry.
In the very next minute, Inui had found his way into the penalty area, but put his shot over the bar.
Balestier somehow survived the Albirex onslaught, and sought to regain control of the closing stages. The hosts almost went ahead with 12 minutes left on the clock, as they came sweeping forward on the counter.
They took too long to make use of their numerical advantage, though, and by the time Nurhilmi delivered his cross, Albirex had managed to get enough men into the box to clear the ball easily.
Costa took it upon himself to find the second goal for Balestier, but his shot from 35 yards out went just wide.
Nasaruddin brought on Ishak Zainol and Syafiq Zainal at the end to force a result, but the Albirex defence prevented the hosts from finding a winning goal, and both sides had to be content with a point apiece.
While the Balestier coach felt that his team had showed what they are capable of, he pointed out that if they had been more clinical, they would have done much better.
“Sometimes with more rest, the boys don’t perform as well, but with no rest, they play better. That’s football,” quipped the former Singapore international.
“Now that we have one point, the pressure is off,” he added, referring to Balestier’s recent lack of goals and points.
Albirex coach Sugiyama felt that his team had played well. Speaking with the aid of his interpreter, he told sleague.com that “we still need to improve a little more to get all three points next time.”
When quizzed on his decision to field Inui only late in the game, Sugiyama said it was “a strategy to get goals.”
He also acknowledged that his side faced early difficulties dealing with their opponents’ physical presence.
“Balestier were a tall, tough team, and we needed some time to get used to it. Once we got used to their style, we played better.”
Both sides will next play opponents eager to close in on the title contenders. Albirex face Geylang United on Friday at Jalan Besar Stadium, and the White Swans must find that little improvement to bring home three points.
Balestier meanwhile will hope the visiting Bulls of Gombak United do not take their red shirts as motivation for a mauling this Saturday.
Nasaruddin will want his team to do “much better” than this in order to get a result against the Bulls. |
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