| |
|
|
Stars fall as Gombak stretch home run
Ko Po Hui
info@sleague.com
Etoile FC were handed their first defeat of the season following a 0-1 defeat to Gombak United at Jurong West Stadium on Wednesday evening.
Obadin Aikhena scored the only goal of the game three minutes into the second half to claim a third consecutive home win for the Bulls, which was enough to see them move up to third, level on points with the team they beat on the night.
Gombak may have enjoyed a small element of good fortune, as Etoile faced one blow after another before and during the match.
On the eve of the clash, the Stars found themselves handicapped by the extension of key centreback Mansour Lakehal’s suspension, after the S.League Disciplinary Committee had convened to hear the case brought against him in light of the incident he was involved in when the team faced Tampines Rovers.
Having completed a mandatory two-match ban for receiving a direct red card, Lakehal was slapped with a further one-match suspension and thus had to miss the game against Gombak.
Things hit another bad note in the pre-match warm-up when Andrea Damiani was ruled out before kickoff due to a suspected groin injury.
Prompting more woe for the Frenchmen was the premature exit of Karim Boudjema, after the pacey winger pulled his hamstring and had to be replaced on 22 minutes.
However, the gallant performance shown by the home team should not be discredited, as they carefully followed the instructions given by their coach Darren Stewart and took the game to their opponents.
“That was what we were trying to do, and the team did well by closing them down without giving them time while they were on the ball,” revealed the Australian afterwards.
In what was probably the best half Gombak had played this season, all 2,241 fans at the stadium and still more watching on television were treated to some slick passing and stout defending by the League Cup 2008 champions.
Midfielder Ridhwan Jamaludin fired the opening salvo inside the first minute, with his audacious 35-yard effort having caught the French goalkeeper Yohann Lacroix off his line.
Fortunately for the visitors, the soft attempt caused no panic and the ball was smothered by Lacroix.
Korean striker Park Kang Jin was the next one to test the stopper for agility at the near post, with a cleverly-played through-ball reaching the nippy forward and prompting Lacroix to show some bravery by sliding across and cutting off the danger at the price of a corner.
The French custodian was to have a busy outing, and he was often in the thick of the action against his nemesis of the evening – Ridhwan, who ensured his presence on the field would not go unnoticed with two more long-range attempts coming quickly in the first half.
First, he was freed on the run with a smart pass by Fazrul Nawaz and unleashed another shot straight to Lacroix in the eighth minute. Then, he forced a corner with another effort a minute later.
The on-fire midfielder returned the favour to teammate Fazrul on 33 minutes with a looping pass down the right flank that was beyond defender Nordine Talhi’s range, but a poor first touch from the Singapore international let him down before he could work something out of it.
By the time the game had progressed to this stage, it was clear that the Bulls were having the upper hand with the kind of fluid passing game many would have associated the Frenchmen with.
The irony was that there was not a single chance by the visiting side that warranted a second look, except for a period of confusion on 21 minutes.
On that occasion, Cyril Bagnost saw his effort defused by Gombak’s defence stalwart Aikhena from close range when the former was at the receiving end of Frederic Mendy’s cross from the right.
Ten minutes before the break, in a reversal of usual roles, towering striker Mendy played provider from the right flank, but playmaker Flavien Michelini showed a lack of composure in front of goal when he was blocked and entangled by his marker Jeremy Chiang in the Bulls’ six-yard box.
Otherwise the hosts were dominating the game, but they could not break down the Stars defence even after a lively first half ended with Park shooting marginally high from a long way out.
But that would change just three minutes into the second half, when Aikhena finally broke the French defence.
A corner off Ridhwan into the penalty area saw Australian midfielder Goran Subara miss the header on the jump, but the Nigerian was right behind him to pick the ball up.
With a decisive shot that flew past all the blue shirts, including Nordine Talhi standing at the near post, Aikhena put the Bulls one goal up.
To be fair, the Frenchmen did gradually find their footing in the second half. But to the dismay of their fans who travelled to the westernmost end of the country, for large parts of the second 45 minutes, they were limited to mounting their offensives from dead-ball situations.
One such chance did rattle both Zaiful Nizam and his crossbar, when Loic Leclercq headed a Michelini free kick from the left flank on 58 minutes.
“We did have our chances like the one that hit the bar,” said Etoile coach Patrick Vallee as he rued the few opportunities his team got to get themselves level.
Skipper Matthias Verschave’s miscued execution of a shot from the edge of the box nine minutes from time, after picking up a ricochet between Mendy and Zaiful that landed in the striker’s path, summed up the day for his team.
But at the end of the day, Vallee showed good grace despite being handed his first defeat as coach of Etoile.
“I think the best team won today and that team is Gombak, as they played better than Etoile,” he said.
When enquired on the subject of injured and suspended personnel limiting his options, the slivered-hair tactician opined, “Yes, these are problems, which meant I had to make changes to my tactics.
“But this is football. Having said that, we know we lost, this should not be an excuse,” he concluded.
Stewart meanwhile remained pragmatic as ever, focusing on his team’s work ahead as he spoke to sleague.com on being the first team to hand the Stars their first ever defeat.
“It was a good effort against a tough quality opponent that we all know Etoile is,” said the former Balestier Central skipper.
“Today we got it all right and I hope it continues. I don’t know how they put in the effort, but it was really pleasing, as they showed they are different class and, after losing to Beijing last week, the character the lads had to come back was awesome.” |
|
|