A staggering comeback

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Boris Kopitovic (No. 9) scoring Tampines Rovers' equaliser against Albirex Niigata, setting his side up for a stirring comeback in a 4-1 victory at the Jurong East Stadium. ST PHOTO: CHONG JUN LIANG

SINGAPORE PREMIER LEAGUE

Albirex Niigata 1

Tampines Rovers 4

A magnificent second-half turnaround – which included three goals in 14 minutes – helped Tampines Rovers beat Albirex Niigata 4-1 last night and displace the Japanese side at the top of the Singapore Premier League (SPL).

With each team having just two games left this season, the title race now looks likely to go down to the wire on Saturday. Tampines are on 27 points, with Albirex a point behind.

Third-placed Lion City Sailors, who beat the Young Lions 4-0 yesterday at Jurong West Stadium, are four points behind Tampines.

The task for Tampines is clear: Win their two remaining games and they will claim their sixth league title and first since 2013. They host the Sailors on Wednesday and end the season against Geylang International.

Said coach Gavin Lee: “The most important thing for us now is to recover and try to be as fresh as possible for the next game.

“Neither team is going to be at 100 per cent, but we’ll just reiterate what we want to do, and stay calm. A lot of things can happen in football and we’ll just control what we can control.”

Keeping calm, he added, was the key to last night’s comeback after Albirex went ahead at Jurong East Stadium through Tomoyuki Doi in the 38th minute.

Lee threw on wing-backs Madhu Mohana and Irwan Shah at the start of the second half, and the move paid instant dividends.

Just three minutes after the restart, Madhu was perfectly placed to set up Boris Kopitovic to equalise from close range.

  • STANDINGS

                                         P W D L F A Pts

    1 Tampines              12 8 3 1 25 9 27

    2 Albirex                  12 8 2 2 28 14 26

    3 Lion City              12 7 2 3 38 15 23

    4 Balestier              12 4 4 4 18 22 16

    5 Geylang               12 5 1 6 13 20 16

    6 Hougang             12 4 3 5 18 21 15

    7 Young Lions       12 2 0 10 7 34 6

    8 Tanjong Pagar  12 0 5 7 12 24 5

Eight minutes later, Amirul Adli put Tampines in front when poor defending at a corner by Albirex saw the ball break to him at the far post.

The Stags then extended their lead in the 62nd minute when Madhu seized on a slip by Hiroyoshi Kamata and played Kopitovic in again, with the Montenegrin striker finishing with aplomb on his second try.

Tampines substitute Taufik Suparno then added gloss to the scoreline in the 88th minute, latching onto a stray pass by Yasuhiro Hanada and firing home the fourth.

Said Madhu: “We came back in the second half once before against Young Lions (on Nov 17) and we know we’re a good enough team to do it against Albirex too.

“We just stayed calm and did not panic. Now, we have to forget this result and focus on the Sailors. It’s not easy but we have the depth to get the results we need.”

Last night’s result helped Tampines pull off a double over Albirex, after a 2-0 win last month, and White Swans coach Keiji Shigetomi pointed to the Stags’ experience as being the difference.

“In the second half, my players were overwhelmed by the opponent and lost possession easily,” he said.

“But I have told them not to be discouraged. There are two more games, and we must try our best to win them, and hope for the best.”

On paper, Albirex have an easier run-in than Tampines. They entertain bottom side Tanjong Pagar United, who are still winless, before visiting an Hougang United side devoid of foreign players.

But if Lee can gee his players up to perform like they did in the second half last night, then they stand a good chance of ending their seven-year wait for the league title.

Published by bryony