Geylang United vs Balestier Khalsa [2-0]

Masrezwan strike caps Geylang victory

Cheryl Lim
info@sleague.com

Geylang United striker Masrezwan Masturi celebrated his first home appearance in Bedok Stadium for the 2009 Great Eastern-YEO’s S.League season with a goal as his team overcame Balestier Khalsa 2-0 on Sunday evening.

He had featured at Tampines Stadium as a substitute last week following a long layoff, but lasted much longer this time as a starter to mark his return in impactful style.

Captain Noor Ali opened the scoring for Geylang in the fifth minute before Masrezwan added another on the stroke of half-time, as the Eagles picked up their first S.League win in over a month.

On a waterlogged pitch which saw the kickoff delayed by almost 25 minutes due to wet weather, Masrezwan, who had just recovered from an anterior cruciate ligament injury which kept him away from action for nearly ten months, had the first shot of the game as he sent the ball over the bar.

Minutes later, American Seth Galloway fouled the 28-year-old on the left of the outside of the penalty box, to which referee Johan Jahari reacted by awarding the Eagles a freekick.

Up stepped the wily Noor Ali, and he sent the ball floating past everyone in the box into the far end of goal to give Geylang an early lead.

Unwilling to give up at such a premature stage, Balestier tried to respond by making the effort to surge forward. Midfielder Anantha Rajan’s through pass found Rizawan Abdullah, who did well to prevent the ball from rolling over the touchline, but his attempt to send it back deeper into the field was foiled by Walid Lounis.

Noor could have added to his personal tally in the 17^th minute after receiving a pass from Miroslav Latiak, but he hit the left post as the Balestier defence scrambled to clear the danger.

The action soon turned to the other end of the pitch, as Anantha saw his attempt tipped away over the crossbar by goalkeeper Yazid Yasin.

Moments later, Ednardo Moura’s header missed the target by inches despite him being well-positioned in front of the net, after a good move from Faizal Amir saw him feeding Anantha on the right, who passed it on to Moura.

Former Super Reds player Kim Jae Hong almost commemorated his first game for the Eagles with a goal after picking up an aimless cross from Syed Thaha near the sideline, only to see Lee Heng Huat somehow fumble the ball before the Tigers defence completed the clearance.

Just before the break, Masrezwan struck off a good through pass by Noor Ali, skipping past Lee and beat Jufri Taha to slide the ball into goal to double Geylang’s lead.

Despite the wet conditions, the game still managed to proceed smoothly as both teams attempted to make their moves forward.

First, Kim sent a free kick directly into Lee’s hands, and then Yazid parried away Anantha’s long shot.

A far pass from Anantha’s replacement Aloysius Yap on 62 minutes then found Moura, who ran down the left flank and made a cross into the middle, but nobody was in a position to receive the ball as Balestier wasted an opportunity to pull a goal back.

Geylang looked to cement their victory in the closing stages of the game with a third goal, as Latiak’s searching pass found Noor Ali at the far post. The Eagles captain sent in a low cross to Lounis, but the latter allowed the ball through underneath his legs.

Lee then pushed it out, only for Ashrin Shariff, who had come on for Masrezwan, to slide the ball out for a harmless goal kick.

Noor Ali next opted not to send his corner into the crowded 18-yard box but to Latiak who was outside, and the latter tried from distance but failed to threaten Balestier’s net.

Deep into injury time, a neat one-two between Noor Ali and Ashrin saw the former running in to blast a shot over the woodwork, and he claimed the last piece of action with an off-target free kick.

Ultimately, it was a case of Balestier failing to give any real response despite putting up a valiant performance.

Geylang coach Mike Wong was a relieved man as his team picked up their first win in three league games.

“We have two new players, Masrezwan – who is considered new as he just came back from injury – and Kim, who was a little bit off and not strong enough, and I expected more from him.

“No matter which players I rotate, I still have to maintain the shape of the team. Our next games against Super Reds and Home United will not be easy, but we have to go according to what we can do.

“Our target was three points, no matter if we play good or bad football, we need to get losses out of our way. We have a target of the number of points we want to get at the end of the season, not only three points in a game.

“When we were 1-0 up, we got a bit complacent. Luckily we got a second goal, and in the second half we hoped to get things tight.

“Balestier were like us when we came back from Brunei for the game against Tampines Rovers, maybe due to not being used to travelling,” Wong suggested.

Nasaruddin Jalil acknowledged that the travel issue was a possible explanation for the loss.

“It was a tough game especially after coming back from Brunei. Travelling made it difficult for players to recover,” he said.

“We had a suspension (to Julio Eduardo) and injuries – Rhysh (Roshan Rai) and Mushthafa (Kamal) have long term injuries and Hafez (Mawasi) got injured against Super Reds which was why he did not travel to Brunei.

“So a lot of reshuffling to the team has to be done, but the boys did well. The fixtures do not help but it is the same for every team.”

Nasaruddin refused to blame the bad weather, focusing on what can be improved in his squad instead as he looks to make some deals in the ongoing mid-season transfer window.

“Geylang also played in the same conditions as us,” he remarked.

“We were not getting into the box as much as I want. After conceding an early goal in the first half, it was tough to get back when we did not get into the box in the first ten minutes. It was even worse when we could not get an early goal in the second half.

“I have no complaints about the players, as we played well in the first half, but the shape of the team was lost when Anantha came out in the second half. Today’s game was not good not at the way we lost, but we were totally out of the game in the second half which was tough for us.

“Our team upfront is still not threatening, and this is an area which hopefully we can correct in the transfer window. We need to find a solution to strengthen our attack.

“We have players who came for trials, and we have to see who can blend in.”