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Opening blitz powers Geylang to victory
Cheryl Lim
info@sleague.com
Three goals within the opening 15 minutes bestowed Geylang United a comfortable victory over Sengkang Punggol at Hougang Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Masrezwan Masturi scored twice – the first goal coming just two minutes into the match – while Prime League winger Yasir Hanapi added one in-between to move the Eagles to within a point of sixth-placed Super Reds with two games in hand.
Sengkang’s scoring woes continued as they failed to convert numerous chances despite playing a hard-pressing game, and a missed penalty just before half-time did not help their cause as they went eight successive matches without a win.
The first minute had barely passed when Masrezwan was allowed to open the scoring, dribbling unchallenged from 40 yards out before hitting his grounder home.
Azhar Baksin tried to reply for the home team six minute later, but his attempt from afar was too tame to threaten Yazid Yasin.
Geylang doubled their lead with ten minutes gone, when Yasir tapped in a corner bobbling among the crowd in the penalty box.
It was the stuff nightmares were made of as Sengkang struggled, but to their credit they did not give up, as 19-year-old Mamadou Diallo raced down the middle and fired a screamer which went inches past the post.
But with chances popping up at both ends, only one side was making them count.
Masrezwan underscored that point with his second goal on 14 minutes, as he was again given the time and space to charge down for a counterattack and outrun his three markers to slot past Amos Boon.
Seeing things were not going well for his side, Sengkang caretaker coach Aide Iskandar sacrificed his defence as he sent attacking midfielder Anthony Bahadur in for wingback Darrel Tan.
However, it was Geylang who continued to dominate, and only a series of misplaced shots prevented Masrezwan, Yasir and Kim Jae Hong from further extending Geylang’s comfortable lead.
For what it was worth, the Dolphins gave a competent account of themselves in midfield, with Murphy Wiredu and Azhar both impressing for the home side.
Both troubled Yazid Yasin with their attempts on goal, and the latter had a clear-cut opportunity to pull a goal back on 33 minutes after receiving a clever backheel from Diallo, but he could only watch his effort skim past the right post.
Diallo was the next guilty party as he shot for the sky in front of an open net six minutes later.
The critical point for Sengkang came two minutes before the half-time whistle, when referee T. Aravinthan pointed to the spot immediately after Bahadur was tripped by Rastislav Belicak inside the penalty area, before awarding the latter a yellow card.
Up stepped Azhar behind the penalty spot, but to his horror Yazid guessed correctly and pushed the ball away, with the rebound put out of play as well.
Regrouping over the interval, Sengkang kicked off the second half still determined to break the duck, with a combination between Azhar and Bahadur forcing Belicak to head off the line before Yazid caught the ball for safety.
The Eagles did not sit back either, as Kim’s freekick deflected off the left post on 67 minutes.
Two minutes later the focus turned to the other end of the field again, Diallo missing another open goal after a good run before he headed Azhar’s cross on the right over the crossbar another three minutes on.
Masrezwan’s younger brother Masnashzreen broke free to set up a one-two between Yasir and Baihakki Khaizan, but the build-up failed to materialize into anything good while Geylang seeked to put the final nail into the Dolphins’ coffin.
They hardly needed to, such was the luckless nature of the hosts’ shooting as Abdoulaye Diallo narrowly missd the post two minutes from time.
It was painful watching for former Geylang man Aide, as he was left to reflect on the heaviest defeat in his short coaching career so far.
“It was very disappointing in the first ten minutes, especially when we conceded three goals. This is definitely the worst game since I became the coach,” said the 34-year-old.
“Maybe we lost concentration, and the lack of communication was telling in the first ten minutes. Everyone seemed not to be communicating, which was not supposed to be, especially in defence.
“Coming from the last game, although we lost, I think we did well. We had clear chances and a penalty. I thought we could have come back in the second half to make the score 3-2, but unfortunately it couldn’t happen, so I hope this is just a one-off performance by the team.
“But they did their best. We have to show the team wants to play,” he stressed, as he explored the impact of missing the suspended Indra Sahdan Daud.
“Indra definitely would have an impact if he’d started the game, but unfortunately this is something we have to deal with for the next game as well.”
Geylang head coach Mike Wong was unsurprisingly pleased with the victory, but there were also some points of concern he felt the team had to take note of.
“We managed to control the game after being 3-0 up, but we should have scored more goals, and we were not so settled in the second half,” he began.
“Maybe a few players were not really focused after being 3-0 up, so I need to get them going and keep in shape. There is nothing to be hurried, just the need to keep the ball.
“The back three lost the shape towards the end of the first half. Instead of playing the game, they went to do something on their own, which was not right.
“We corrected that during the half-time talk, and the second half was good. Again, there is no need to be in a hurry, just keep the ball and maintain possession.”
The Eagles next face Bruneian outfit DPMM FC at Bedok Stadium, and even though that fixture comes just three days after their trip to Hougang, Wong remarked there was no reason to conserve any energy against Sengkang.
“We want to play every game with 100%,” he said.
“We know we got a weekend match, but we want to give our fans as much as possible.” |
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