(Photo of Geylang International FC - By Football Association of S'pore)

By Sadat Osman

A dominant showing at the Jurong East Stadium saw Geylang International FC (GIFC) re-establish their  5^th place in the Singapore Premiere League (SPL) table. That's after ousting Tanjong Pagar United FC (TPUFC) 3-1 in the Round 13 fixture on Sunday evening (1st Aug).

The Jaguars were aware that they needed to lock down Celestino Moresche and Amy Recha, but their overzealous challenges were not enough.  The Eagles were always on the front foot with the chemistry of their forwards – Amy and Moresche – but it was Ilhan Noor who broke the deadlock in the 13^th minute.

(Photo of Geylang's Ilhan Noor  - By Football Association of S'pore)

Off a cleared corner from Amy, midfielder Barry Maguire picked up the loose ball to keep the attack alive. He then lobs the ball into the box. Moresche rose to head it towards goal, and it was his team-mate IIhan, who had the final touch when he headed home, for 0-1 to the visitors.

10 minutes before the halftime break, the situation worsened for the Jaguars. Singapore international leftback Shakir Hamzah put the ball into his own net, when his backward header that was meant for his goalkeeper Zharfan Rohaizad, was misdirected and trickled past the goal line 10 minutes from the break (0-2).

Tanjong Pagar were a mess at this point as they looked confused at the back and had no real threat in front. 2 minutes after conceding the second, the Jaguars allowed GIFC to continue their rampage as Amy and Moresche link up for yet another attacking foray. The two strikers exchanged passes, before the Brazilian’s shot was deflected into the path of Ilhan to tap home from close range to bag his double (0-3).

(Photo of Geylang International FC - By Football Association of S'pore)

The hosts introduced Khairul Amri in the second half to light up their offence, but to no avail. The Geylang backline managed to hold off the former Singapore International, whenever TPUFC pulled off flashes of opportunities upfront. However, Luiz Junior grabbed a goal back for his team in the 62^nd minute. Amri started the attack on the left before releasing the ball to Blake Ricciuto in the box. The Australian smartly flicked the ball towards Junior, who made no mistake with a left-foot finish from close range (1-3).

(Photo of TPUFC's Luiz Junior  - By Football Association of S'pore)

Despite having a two-goal cushion, the visitors pressed on to try and score more goals. With the home side pulling out all the stops to ensure they don’t concede, crunching challenges heated up proceedings on either end of the pitch. Apart from Luiz’s goal, TPUFC offered precious little in the final third, while GIFC did well to hold on to possession whenever they could, to run the clock down and pick up the full 3 points.

With their 2nd win on the trot, the Eagles remain in 5^th place with 13 points, while the Jaguars sit in 6^th with 10. Next up for GIFC is a rematch with TPUFC at Our Tampines Hub on 14 Aug. The Jaguars will take on league-leaders Albirex Niigata (S), who recently downed dogged Hougang United 2-1, in an away fixture on 6 Aug.

(Graphics Images : Football Association of Singapore)

Sadat Osman had a 10-year career in the publication industry, where he covered several beats including current affairs, food, fishing, music, and football. As the former chief editor at Goal.com and a fan of Newcastle United FC since 1996,  Sadat also had a trial as a goalkeeper at Tanjong Pagar United FC. But today he remains a frequent social player of the game, who fancies Lionel Messi. However, Sadat's playing style is unfortunately similar to that of Titus Bramble!