SINGAPORE – With his hand in all four goals, Shawal Anuar called the tune as the Lion City Sailors marched into the quarter-finals of the Asian Champions League Two with a 4-0 thrashing of Thailand’s Muangthong United on Feb 20.
The convincing last 16, second-leg victory at the Jalan Besar Stadium, where Maxime Lestienne and Bart Ramselaar also got on the scoresheet, gave the Sailors a 7-2 aggregate score and US$160,000 (S$214,000) in prize money.
They will next meet J1 League side Sanfrecce Hiroshima, who thrashed Vietnam’s Nam Dinh 7-0 on aggregate.
A delighted Sailors coach Aleksandar Rankovic said: “I think if you see the two matches that we played against them, it was obvious that we are the ones that deserve to go through.
“Of course, we started the match amazingly and it’s not the first time. You can be lucky one time, but we are always training for these kinds of situations and we have players who can provoke these kinds of goals. I’m happy with the win.”
The Sailors are also the only South-east Asian team left in the competition, after Thailand’s Port FC lost 1-0 to South Korean outfit Jeonbuk Hyundai Motors and bowed out 5-0 on aggregate, while Australia’s Sydney FC edged out another Thai side in Bangkok United 2-3 in extra time (5-4 on aggregate).
Jeonbuk will take on Sydney in March for a place in the semi-finals, with the other quarter-finals contested by West Asian clubs Sharjah, Shabab Al Ahli (both United Arab Emirates), Al Taawoun (Saudi Arabia) and Tractor (Iran).
Before a 2,749-strong crowd, the Sailors got off to a dream start, just as they did in the 3-2 first-leg victory in Nonthaburi on Feb 13, as they were awarded a penalty after only 15 seconds.
A long ball to Lestienne was headed on to Shawal, who was brought down by onrushing Muangthong goalkeeper Kittipong Phoothawchuek, prompting Iranian referee Payam Heidari to point to the spot.
Lestienne calmly dispatched his penalty, sending Kittipong the wrong way to spark wild celebrations from the home supporters.
As the half wore on, a frustrated Muangthong side struggled to break down the compact Sailors on the artificial pitch at Jalan Besar, with chances for the Thai side coming few and far between.
Sailors custodian Izwan Mahbud was first called into action in the 42nd minute, as a free kick from wide was sent in by Kirins captain Tristan Do. The ball eluded everyone, forcing Izwan to dive low and parry it to safety.
The home side then doubled their lead in first-half injury time, with Shawal providing a direct assist this time.
Lestienne, from deep in his own half, sent in a speculative long ball which found Shawal, who then put it on a plate for Ramselaar to smash into an empty net.
Shawal finally got on the scoresheet in the 63rd minute. Captain Hariss Harun lofted a ball over the Muangthong defence, and the fleet-footed forward, who was played onside by Tristan, comfortably lobbed Kittipong to make it 3-0 on the night.
The Singapore international then notched his second in the 88th minute, smashing the ball into the roof of the net after Kittipong had spilled substitute Lennart Thy’s shot into his path.
The 33-year-old, who was deservedly named Man of the Match, said: “I’m proud of myself, to be able to contribute to the team, we worked together and that’s why we could get the result tonight.”
Meamwhile, Muangthong coach Gino Lettieri felt that they had “killed” themselves in both legs.
“It’s deja vu, the first game, we conceded after 30 seconds, same here today, incredible. And when you play at this level, against a technical side like (the Sailors), it’s hard to come back from that,” said the Italian.
- Melvyn Teoh is a sports journalist at The Straits Times.
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