Dun forget Qiu Li most likely out of
tomorrow's match...
http://www.sleague.com/Web/Main.aspx?ID=,68e68380-9e0b-44b2-8a32-d06df7470ca6&AID=c41314ea-785a-47e9-8196-cd1dfe3f65b3&NLT=300
Tampines bear pain in Toa Payoh victory
Paul Green
[email protected]
Tampines Rovers maintained their strong Great Eastern-YEO’S
S.League title challenge with a simple 2-0 win over Balestier
Khalsa at Toa Payoh Stadium on Saturday night.
But it came at something of a cost for Singapore international Qiu
Li, who came off the bench to score both goals, only to return to
it four minutes from the end.
Balestier hung on well after falling behind to Qiu’s first strike a
minute or two before the break, but their plucky resistance ended
when they failed to chase back quickly enough to defend a
counterattack on 79 minutes and paid the price after some unselfish
work by Aleksandar Duric.
“We were caught off guard for their first goal,” said Tigers coach
Nasaruddin Jalil afterwards.
“We held them well for most of the game, but when you look at it
they have more foreigners than we do; we only have four,” he
quipped, referring to the fact that Duric and Qiu, both members of
the Singapore national team, were once considered as ‘foreign
talent’.
“We gave them a hard game and should not have let them score a
second goal the way they did, as we did not defend in enough
numbers after our own chance of scoring was lost.
“It’s not an excuse, but the suspensions and injuries we had coming
into the game – Ishak Zainol in particular – and the sadness
surrounding (winger K.) Vikraman must have had some impact,” said
Nasaruddin.
Of Vikraman, who lost his wife in tragic circumstances only days
earlier and for whom a minute’s silence was observed before the
match, the coach said it was up to the player himself to decide
when he felt ready to play again.
The 45-year-old added that the rest of the team will support him
irrespective of when he feels ready to rejoin the side.
Balestier created few scoring chances in the game, it has to be
said, with Tampines keeper Hassan Sunny given little to do for most
of the match.
Tampines, on the other hand, were also unable to penetrate much as
a resolute Balestier held them at bay until ten minutes from the
break, when Vorawan Chitavanich invited the injury-prone Qiu to
come on for former Tigers defender Jufri Taha.
The strongly-built striker slipped immediately into a deep-lying
midfield slot, and Tampines began to look like a team that would
soon score after a lacklustre opening period.
When the goal came, characteristically it was an individual effort
by Qiu that his coach even admitted was lucky when interviewed
after the match.
The former Home United star had received the ball 35 yards out on
the right, and no Balestier player tried to close him down,
assuming, as most would, that a shot from that range could only be
a speculative one.
But Qiu has scored from similar situations before, and at least
once this season he had sent a first-time shot from distance into
the roof of the net.
His direct hit fooled Balestier keeper Ahmadulhaq Che Omar
completely as his defenders saw the ball sail over their heads
before landing in the centre of the net.
“I don’t think he could do that again,” said Nasaruddin, clearly
unaware of Qiu’s prowess from distance.
“It was a little lucky, but his second goal was very good,” said
Vorawan, more or less agreeing with his opposite number’s
assessment.
The second goal was good, not because of any additional brilliance
by Qiu, but because of the passing and unselfish work of Duric in
the lead-up which came after a straightforward counterattack.
Balestier had looked likely to draw level on 78 minutes, when
Rivaldo Costa intercepted a sloppy pass and got into the six-yard
box to fire a powerful shot that, for once, forced a save from
Hassan.
The goalkeeper could not hold the ball, however, and it ran free to
the left, where Vitor Borges was handily placed to make something
of the opportunity.
Borges, though, failed to reach the ball before a Tampines
defender, and it was quickly sent upfield.
It reached Duric on the left, out wide, and the target-man soon
took the ball to the byline, despite being reasonably well-placed
to try a shot of his own from a tight angle.
An alternative route was sought as he laid the ball back to the
edge of the penalty area, where Qiu had arrived in support, and the
resultant shot from the latter was sent low and accurately into the
centre of the net, with Ahmadulhaq powerless to slow or even stop
its progress.
Moments later Qiu, already carrying an ankle injury, collapsed in
the penalty area and had to be stretchered off.
Vorawan, conscious that his title-hunting side has another game
against Albirex Niigata (Singapore) in four days’ time, was
concerned about his prize striker, whose two goals took his tally
to 15 for the season, level with Frederic Mendy of first-placed
club Etoile FC.
Qiu may now be level with Mendy, but Tampines themselves are still
two points behind after both sides have played 22 matches thus
far.
“We don’t know how bad Qiu Li’s injury is,” said his coach.
“I don’t think it is too bad, but I don’t think we’ll be risking
starting him against Albirex.
“We brought Khairul Amri on today off the bench as well and we’d
like to start him in the next game, but he is still complaining of
some soreness and we hope he can play on Wednesday.”
Tampines gave Balestier very little chance of scoring throughout
the game as the experienced Park Yo Seb, Seiji Kaneko and Benoit
Croissant were very solid.
A stray pass was not enough to tilt the game away from Tampines
late on either.
“After we scored,” said Vorawan, “we controlled the game.”
Twice in the game Tampines lost possession and might have been
punished, and they did allow Balestier a period midway through the
second half when they sat back and let the Tigers come at
them.
A ball given away in midfield by Akihiro Nakamura was a rare
blemish by the Stags, and it came on 47 minutes, but Andrew Tan,
charging towards goal, was somewhat hasty in his attempt at
capitalising on the mistake and blasted his shot well over the bar
once inside the six-yard box.
Hassan therefore only had one crucial save to make, from Costa as
earlier mentioned, and his opposite number, while conceding twice,
spared his teammates a greater losing margin with one fine save
from Aliff Shafaein on 51 minutes in a game where clear-cut chances
were at a premium, even for the winners.
Balestier have a longer rest after this than do Tampines, with a
match at Jalan Besar on Friday against Sengkang Punggol to look
forward to.
Tampines may overtake Etoile on Wednesday if they can prevail
against the White Swans, and could hold the lead longer than merely
overnight depending on the outcome of the French team’s visit to
Yishun Stadium to play Beijing Guoan the following evening.
For Vorawan, though, the chief concern would be his men’s health –
particularly that of talismanic striker Qiu.
