Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Singapore: Tampines Rovers qualified for the last 16 of the AFC Cup from Group E for the first time since 2011 after edging Malaysia’s Selangor 1-0 at Singapore National Stadium on Tuesday.
Yasir Hanapi’s superb strike in the 32nd minute was enough to send the hosts through despite the late sending off of striker Billy Mehmet, as they leapfrogged their visitors into second place at the final whistle.
And the Singaporeans, who will next face India’s Mohun Bagan in a re-match of the 2016 AFC Champions League preliminary round tie, are joined in the knockout stages by Ceres La Salle after the Philippines side claimed an emphatic 5-0 win over Bangladesh’s Lt. Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club to top Group E.
“Yasir’s goal was a great one and he took it really well,” said Tampines coach V. Sundramoorthy.
“The way the ball swerved into the net was worthy of a match winner.
“The win was great for Singapore football as a whole and it is an indication of the rise in our domestic league’s competitiveness.”
Tampines began the match brightly, with Mehmet having a chance to put the home side in front after 11 minutes. He rose highest in the box to head a Noh Rahman cross just above the crossbar.
The English striker then helped save Izwan Mahbud’s blushes at the other end eight minutes later when he cleared the latter’s spill from an Andik Vermansyah shot off the line.
Tampines’ breakthrough came in the 31st minute when Yasir latched on to a Mehmet square pass on the edge of the box and swerved his shot past a stranded Khairulazhan Khalid and into the top left corner of the net.
The match winner almost scored a second just before the break when he capitalised on a defensive mistake to squeeze past two Selangor defenders, only for his shot to go straight at Khalid.
Tampines kept up their attacking momentum in the second half, with Hafiz Sujad’s attempt crashing against the post and a header off a corner cleared off the line.
With minutes ticking away Selangor poured men forward in search of the elusive equaliser that would have sent them through, but were unable to trouble the Tampines goal.
Mehmet saw his otherwise fine night undone in the final moments of the game when he was shown a straight red following a coming together of players after an off-the-ball incident with Selangor midfielder Mauro Olivi.
“We gave away one silly goal,” said Selangor coach Zainal Abidin Hassan. “We tried to find the equaliser but we could not score.
“We did not give them trouble when the game was even. It was only when we were down then we started to create chances. Once we missed the shots, we were in trouble."
Photo: Lagardère Sports