Young Lions vs Super Reds Report [0-5]

Super Reds put Young Lions to the sword

Fabius Chen
info@sleague.com

The Super Reds produced a devastating display of attacking football to annihilate the Young Lions 5-0 in a largely one-sided contest at Jalan Besar Stadium on Tuesday evening.

Goals from Park Kang Jin, Choi Dong Soo (2), Park Han Seok and Kim Tae Young gave the Koreans their biggest win of the season, while the Young Lions’ problems were compounded by the late dismissal of influential skipper Obadin Aikhena.

It was a dismal end to a game that had begun promisingly for the home side.

Just 10 seconds had passed when midfielder Gabriel Quak Jun Yi pounced on a loose pass from a Super Reds defender, raced into the penalty area and won his side a corner off Yu Hyun Koo.

The visitors took control from then on, and Yun Bo Young fired the first warning to their opponents with a thumping drive from distance that forced Young Lions stopper Izwan Mahbud into a fingertip save with only three minutes gone.

The Super Reds were creating chances but when the breakthrough finally arrived on 24 minutes, it was thanks to some profligate Young Lions defending.

Shahir Hamzah gave the ball away to Kim on the edge of his own six-yard box and the Korean’s pull-back to Park Kang Jin was gratefully sidefooted into the back of the net.

It took them just 12 minutes to double their advantage.

Yun played a glorious chipped pass to Park in the middle of the box, leaving Aikhena little option but to drag the forward down before he could pull the trigger.

Referee Abdul Malik Bashir had no doubt that it was a penalty, while the Young Lions’ captain was booked for his troubles.

Up stepped Choi to take the spot-kick and although Izwan went the right way, he never stood a chance of keeping out the Korean’s well-placed penalty.

The Young Lions were being played off the park by their opponents and just three minutes after the second goal, defender Eddie Chang made way for the more attacking-minded Khairul Nizam.

It made little difference in the remainder of the half, as the home side failed to create any significant chances and Super Reds goalkeeper Kang Su Ho went into the break not having had a single save to make.

Any hopes of a Young Lions revival in the second-half were quickly extinguished in the 49th minute, as Park Han Seok found himself with time and space on the edge of the box and unleashed an unstoppable drive beyond Izwan.

Even with a good 40 minutes left to play, the visitors began to play exhibition football, bringing out the heel flicks and party tricks.

Meanwhile, Terry Pathmanathan’s side looked bereft of ideas and their attack, spearheaded by China native Yang Mu, looked painfully blunt.

Another defensive error handed the Koreans a fourth goal just after the hour mark, as Afiq Yunos needlessly gave the ball away in midfield and Park Han Seok slipped Kim in to beat Izwan with a cool finish.

The scoring was completed barely six minutes later, with stopper Izwan having to shoulder some of the blame this time.

The 19-year-old raced out of his penalty area in an attempt to clear a ball that he was always second-favourite to reach and when Park Kang Jin lifted the ball over his head, Faritz Abdul Hameed was left no choice but to put the ball into touch.

From the resulting corner, Park’s flick at the near post beat Izwan but came back off the crossbar, leaving Choi with the simplest of tap-ins to seal his brace.

The Super Reds could so easily have added a sixth, with Park and substitute Back Dae Hyuen coming close with long-range efforts that whizzed just wide.

By then, however, they had taken their foot off the pedal, but the home side would be in for more frustration.

First, Yang did well to hold off his marker in the box but his drive across the face of goal had no one to apply the finishing touch on, leaving the Young Lions forward wondering where the support was.

Then, Irwan Shah’s cross from the left found Khairul all on his own in the Korean’s box but the substitute mistimed his jump and failed to get a good contact on the ball.

There was still time for Aikhena to foul Park Han Seok in what could only be described as a harmless area of the pitch but the referee decided that it warrented a second yellow card for the Young Lions skipper.

It was the final nail in the home side’s coffin and coach Pathmanathan later admitted that his players had been completely outclassed.

“The opponents were too good and too clever for us to cope with them,” he conceded.

“We tried hard and worked hard but were not able to anticipate their moves and they really showed their superiority.

“They were the toughest opposition we have had to face so far.”

The former national team captain refused to dwell on the negatives of the evening’s proceedings, especially with a visit to Brunei just around the corner.

“We lost to a far superior side but the effort we put in was good and I hope the players learned a lesson,” he pointed out.

“The show has to go on; we must gather ourselves and think about the positives from this game.

“The players must react in a positive way.”

Pathmanathan also commented that the opposition should be much higher up the Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League table, an assertion that Super Reds coach Jeon Kyeong Joon agreed with.

“We have been waiting and waiting for a result like this and we have finally got it,” a visibly delighted Jeon stated.

“There is no such thing as a perfect game but I am very happy with the result and I’m looking forward to mounting a title challenge.”

Jeon made sure to point out that his side will not be resting on their laurels, especially with a tricky fixture against league leaders Gombak United next on their agenda.

“The flow of each game is different so we will have to prepare well,” he concluded.