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Rivaldo Costa scores winner on return
Tam Cheong Yan
info@sleague.com
Rivaldo Costa scored on his return to the Balestier Khalsa lineup to help his team claim a 1-0 victory over Beijing Guoan Talent at Toa Payoh Stadium on Wednesday evening.
The Brazilian striker, back in action after missing the last two matches, diverted a Daniel Hammond free kick past Talents goalkeeper Su Boyang on 24 minutes for the winner.
The goal was his fourth for Balestier, who had an excellent game in defence against a Beijing side which never got their act together on the day.
Having done so well to score impressive wins over Geylang United and Home United in the last fortnight, their lack of composure cost them dearly against the Tigers, who leapt up to third place following this result.
Costa’s return was one of three changes Nasaruddin Jalil made to the team that lost to the Young Lions a week ago, as Joey Sim and winger Goh Swee Swee were also chosen.
Beijing also made three changes themselves, Yu Yang and Wang Hao dropping out of the matchday squad as coach Zheng Xiaotian opted to rotate his players around.
The team had fared remarkably in their 4-1 thrashing of Home five days ago, and with Tan Tiancheng and Zhang Xizhe featuring in attack again, there was hope that they could continue the good form they had shown since joining the team earlier this month.
But with no real shape emerging from their game in the early stages, there were suspicions the players may have let that performance get to their heads.
Balestier were not all that outstanding themselves, it must be said, and neither side seemed capable of holding on to the ball for any sustained period of time.
That said, the Tigers were getting a number of useful free kicks within striking range, and Paul Cunningham drew a good save from Su Boyang on 23 minutes when he fired one such from about 25 yards out.
A minute later, the hosts pulled ahead. The corner following Su’s save did not pose any direct dangers, but the Beijing defence could not clear the ball convincingly, and Daniel Hammond somehow ended up with possession well outside the penalty area.
The Englishman hit the ball low with an effort that did not look particularly strong, but as the ball rolled within Costa’s reach, the Brazilian had a swing and wrong-footed Su to claim his fourth goal in five competitive appearances.
Beijing were stirred into action, and they were almost gifted a chance to pull level five minutes later when Poh Yi Feng botched a clearance and sent the ball to Zhao Yang.
But Cunningham did excellently to rush across and block Zhao’s effort from inside the penalty area, and the New Zealander went on to have a fine game alongside Hammond at the back as they repulsed everything thrown at them.
It probably helped that their opponents often tried to go for the Route One approach, hoping to use their speed and fitness to catch the Balestier defence out.
That however meant that they drifted away from the team play they had shown last week, and with their long balls lacking in precision, it was no surprise that Sim was rarely tested.
Indeed Balestier’s game plan essentially boiled down to keeping the ball as far away from their goalkeeper as possible, and even though they did not look too good in attack, they knew that defending was all they really needed to do with the lead in hand.
They came close to making it 2-0 on 65 minutes, when Goh showed some smarts to play a free kick short down the right for overlapping fullback Poh Yi Feng to cross.
Cunningham got the contact inside the danger area, but was denied his first competitive goal of the season by Su, who flew across and saved well, as he so often does.
The save inspired the Talents to try harder going forward, and they were handed a precious chance to get back on level terms three minutes later when the hosts conceded a free kick following a shirt-tugging incident.
But some jostling in the box in anticipation of the delivery built up to a heated overreaction, and a Beijing player went down amid some angry pushing and hollering.
For a moment the situation threatened to go out of hand, but the match officials quickly got themselves on the scene to break everything up.
Liu Teng and K. Vikraman were shown direct red cards for their roles in the scuffle, while Poh was booked by referee Leow Thiam Hoe as well.
For the record, the free kick went over the crossbar, but it was clear Beijing were feeling the urgency as they desperately chased a point.
They were reduced to nine men on 76 minutes when centreback Zhang Xiaolong was shown a second yellow card for a defensive foul, although that hardly mattered for them as they kept on trying to push forward.
Balestier could have punished them had Syafiq Zainal not hit a pass too hard for Costa three minutes from time. One goal was enough, though, for them to claim all three points.
Pleased Nasaruddin asks for more consistency
Balestier Khalsa coach Nasaruddin Jalil was pleased to see his side pick up their third win of the season after just six matches, which lifted them up to third place in the league.
The 1-0 victory over Beijing Guoan Talent came following a strong defensive display, and Nasaruddin called for more of the same with so much of the season still to come.
“The important thing for us is getting the three points,” he told sleague.com.
“We know that Beijing are a good side, and we didn’t want to open up any space for them to play. Once we got the early goal, we knew we wanted to wrap up the game.
“This year has been a good start for us, and everybody chipped in to strengthen the team. Now what we have to do is show more consistency in our performances.”
The match was blighted somewhat by an incident in the second half that saw both teams exchange heated pushes, leading to ejections for K. Vikraman and Liu Teng.
Nasaruddin however offered the view that there was no need to play up the matter.
“That’s a normal show of frustration, and sometimes we overreact as players,” he said.
“It’s something everybody has to correct; we don’t want the incident to become uglier. I know everyone wants to protect his teammates, but we need to be careful not to overreact.
“Having said that, I feel this wasn’t a dirty game. They’re a young side, and the coach there just needs to educate the players more about keeping their self-control.”
Beijing coach Zheng Xiaotian admitted that this performance should have done much to bring his boys back down to earth, after they had done well in recent encounters.
Commenting on the dismissals of Liu and Zhang Xiaolong, as well as the mass shoving incident, he acknowledged that the players still had some growing up to do.
“I was afraid that the good performance would get to the boys’ heads, so I spent a lot of effort trying to prepare them mentally for this match,” he said.
“It looks like the effort was not enough, unfortunately. We didn’t play that well at all, the team had no form, and the players all looked too hasty in their approach.
“The two boys who got sent off should know that they ended up helping our opponents through their actions. I know they meant well, but the end result is something else.
“I’m not too disappointed, though; it’s part of growing up as a footballer. The boys need to show greater intellect and composure on the field, and this serves as a lesson.” |
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