Fabius Chen
info@sleague.com
Defending champions SAFFC erased the memory of their second-half collapse against Woodlands Wellington over the weekend to record a resounding 6-0 victory over Albirex Niigata (Singapore) at Choa Chu Kang Stadium.
Singapore forward Aleksandar Duric helped himself to a hat-trick, while his colleague John Wilkinson scored for the fifth consecutive Great Eastern-YEO’s S.League game to join Duric on six goals for the season so far.
But it was Ahmad Latiff Khamarudin who got the home side’s first goal in the 32nd minute with a scrumptious volley from the edge of the penalty area.
Therdsak Chaiman’s quickly-taken free kick found Latiff in space, and the midfielder’s first-time effort crashed in off the underside of the crossbar.
It was an unstoppable shot that Yoshito Matsushita in the Albirex goal did well to even react to.
A Warriors goal had looked more likely right from the start, with Richard Bok’s side creating chance after chance.
In the space of a minute, both Wilkinson and Therdsak came close with shots from range that flew narrowly wide.
Duric then pounced on a mistake in the visitors’ defence and nudged the ball past Matsushita, into the path of an onrushing Wilkinson.
Given his recent goalscoring form, home fans were already celebrating a goal before he placed his shot wide of an empty net.
Korean midfielder Park Tae Won then got his head onto Shaiful Esah’s inswinging corner at the near-post, only to see the ball clip the bar on its way over, as the Warriors cranked up the pressure on the Japanese side.
Latiff’s goal came 13 minutes later and the floodgates were open.
Just five minutes later, Duric and Therdsak exchanged a series of clever passes that ended with the former placing a shot past Matsushita for his first goal in four games.
Perhaps not wanting to go into the half-time break with a mere 2-0 lead again, the Warriors pushed for a third.
Wilkinson laid the ball off for Park, who was in space in the Albirex penalty area. However, Matsushita in goal did well to push Park’s low drive across the face of goal wide for a corner.
The home side would not be denied again, though, as the resulting corner was emphatically volleyed home by Wilkinson. Once again, the Albirex defence failed to deal with a corner aimed at their near-post and duly paid the price.
As the half drew to a close, the White Swans came close to sneaking a goal that might possibly have changed the complexion of the second half.
Good play down the Albirex left gave forward Taisuke Akiyoshi the chance to have a try. His dipping shot looked destined for the top corner, only for SAFFC goalkeeper Shahril Jantan to push it over.
For the second time in the space of five days, the Warriors took a seemingly-insurmountable lead into the break, although everyone at the stadium will have remembered what happened the last time.
It was up to coach Bok made sure there would be no repeat of the Woodlands game.
“I told them that in the second-half, the game starts at 0-0,” he said afterwards.
As it turned out, his side was able to repeat the first-half scoreline.
Just nine minutes into the second period, Therdsak found space thanks to some static Albirex defending. His lay-off to Duric in the centre beat Matsushita along the way, leaving last season’s top scorer with the simplest of tap-ins.
The home side was rampant now and the chances were coming thick and fast.
Latiff came close to scoring his second of the night on two occasions. First, his deflected volley was palmed away by Matsushita, before a picture-perfect shot with the outside of his right foot flew inches wide with the keeper wrong-footed.
During the half-time interval, Albirex coach Naoki Naruo told his team to abandon their defensive set-up and take the game to their opponents, which showed in a spirited performance.
Naruo commented: “In the first half, we sat back and conceded three goals, so we tried to put more pressure on them. We really wanted to score but just couldn’t.”
Akira Takase did come close, forcing a save out of Shahril at his near post as the visitors went in search of a consolation goal.
Meanwhile, it was up the other end of the pitch where the really penetrating attacks were being orchestrated.
Duric did well to outmuscle two Albirex defenders, before finding Therdsak on the edge of the box with a rare and outrageous backheel.
The Thai’s low drive squirmed under the body of Matsushita and was on its way in when Wilkinson raced in to collect his brace.
It was exhibition stuff from the champions, with Duric’s flash of trickery underlining the home side’s dominance.
Naruo’s side, however, continued to create chances, with Takase and strike partner Kenji Adachihara causing the most problems for a stubborn Warriors defence determined to keep a clean sheet.
Just as the fourth official raised his board to indicate three minutes of stoppage time, a long ball out of defence found Duric all alone up front.
The SAFFC skipper spotted Matsushita off his line and with a sublime chip, completed his hat-trick and his side’s rout.
According to Warriors coach Bok, the performance was the perfect response to Sunday’s shock defeat.
“Hopefully we are back on track after derailing against Woodlands,” he said.
“It was a great morale booster ahead of next week’s game against Gombak United, although there is still room for improvement.”
Hat-trick hero Duric agreed with his coach, describing the loss to Woodlands as something of a “wake-up call”.
He explained: “Sometimes it is good to lose, as it shows we are not untouchable.
“We were very disappointed after the Woodlands game but the team has responded very well.”
For the White Swans, it is back to the drawing board after winning their last two league games.
As for this performance, Naruo put into words what everyone at Choa Chu Kang Stadium must have been thinking: “SAF were simply better than us.”
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