Home United vs Albirex Niigata [3-1]

Home breathe again with win over Albirex Ong Jiing Yih info@sleague.com Home United injected new hope into their domestic campaign on Tuesday evening as they claimed a comprehensive 3-1 win over Albirex Niigata (Singapore) at Clementi Stadium. Peres de Oliveira, Tengku Mushadad and Valery Hiek all scored to clinch the points for the hosts, with Kenji Adachiara claiming a consolation for Albirex a minute from time. It was just the result Home needed, after a recent slump in form saw them crash out of the AFC Cup before bowing meekly to Gombak United over the weekend. But all such fears were dispelled for the moment with an assured display over an Albirex side that ultimately looked short on ideas up front. Still, it took some industrious defending for the Protectors to hold on to their result, as captain S. Subramani and national goalkeeper Lionel Lewis, who were both restored to the starting eleven, stood strong against the determined Japanese outfit. Albirex would have good reason to feel they should have got more out of the match, considering the manner of their start. Showing some strong control from the first whistle, they tested Lewis early on through Tetsuya Kishida and Kunihiro Honda, although neither managed to hit the back of the Home net. But once Home settled down, they got down to business quickly going forward, and it should have come as no surprise that they claimed the first goal of the match on 11 minutes. The versatile Isa Halim, deployed at rightback for this match as Rosman Sulaiman covered for Juma’at Jantan on the other flank, sent in a cross that was aimed at Oliveira. Inexplicably, the usually unflappable Takatoshi Uchida neglected to mark the Brazilian, allowing the latter to power a diving header past the exposed Yoshito Matsushita. The goal stung the White Swans into searching for a response, an endeavour they performed with much enthusiasm and industry. Working the ball around to good effect and constantly getting into good positions, they forced Home to give away a succession of freekicks on the edge of the box. One such instance in the 26th minute saw Taisuke Akiyoshi bend his freekick well towards the goal, only to be denied by a stretching Lewis. The game gradually opened up as both sets of players appeared to get into the swing of things, and Oliveira could have had his second of the night on 41 minutes but for the crossbar’s intervention. A storming run by Itimi Dickson and some unselfish play by Kengne Ludovick allowed the Home veteran to get a chance to shoot, but there was to be no joy on this occasion as the ball struck the horizontal. The second goal eventually came for the Protectors on the stroke of half-time, albeit from an unexpected source. Collecting a pass from Ludovick, Tengku sprinted past his marker and showed a good eye for goal as he blasted past a desperately diving Matsushita from 20 yards out. Albirex came out with renewed optimism for the second period, and Uchida came close to pulling a goal back when his firm header on 59 minutes required some strong defending by Isa on the line. The Japanese side almost went three goals down a minute later though, when Tengku struck the ball wonderfully, only to see the dipping ball skim the top of the bar with Matsushita floundering. Despite the scares at the back, it was the White Swans’ poor finishing up front that let them down. A quick exchange of passes between Akiyoshi and Honda culminated in a through pass to the latter, who looked all set for a toe-poke past Lewis, only for Lewis to block the shot with his legs. That miss would ultimately come back to haunt them on 66 minutes, when another leaky moment at the back was to prove the decisive blow. Shi launched a corner delivery into the box that found a free Shahril Ishak, whose nodded pass affored Hiek the simplest of headers as he connected in mid-air to bury the effort past Matsushita. Even at 3-0 up, the hosts still had some defending to do as Albirex kept up the attacking pressure in hope of cashing in on a slip into complacency. With 20 minutes to go, the Protectors had another close shave after Kishida’s hooked effort bounced just across the face of goal. Determined to put together a strong finish to the game, Albirex sent on Akira Takase and Atsushi Shimono, and both came close to getting a goal with efforts that offered Lewis some serious tests. Adachihara too had an attempt denied, but the Albirex captain netted for his side a minute before time when he latched on to a Kishida cross right on the line. Despite seeing his team score a goal, Albirex head coach Naoki Naruo was visibly disappointed as he spoke to sleague.com. “Tried as hard as they did for this game, the players couldn’t play our style of football in the first half. “We showed little resistance once they scored but we could have made a difference had we got a goal first.” That first goal was crucial to Protectors coach PN Sivaji, as he revealed in his post-match analysis. “We controlled the game and there was full of energy and running; any lack of fitness were compensated by hard work,” he noted. “We really needed the early goal – had we let the opposition come they’ll throw more at us. Once we settled down I saw an eagerness to attack. “Lionel did well and made a lot of saves. Had it not been for him the score could have been otherwise.”