It was 3rd hosting 2nd as Lion City Sailors host rivals Tampines Rovers at the Bishan Stadium in Wednesday night’s Singapore Premier League action at the Bishan Stadium. In a heated and eventful encounter, Faris Ramli was both Tampines’ hero and villain as he gave the Stags a second-half lead before conceding a late penalty that allowed the Sailors to recover themselves a point.
With league leaders Albirex Niigata (S) having steamrolled Geylang International 3-0 the previous day, both LCS and Tampines knew that a win on Wednesday would help them maintain their challenge towards the Swans, especially 2nd placed Tampines who would overtake the defending champions with all three points.
The first half was goalless, yet cagey, with Syazwan Buhari in the Tampines goal being called into action as early as the 2nd minute. Syazwan then came to the Stags’ rescue again by tipping over Abdul Rasaq’s effort in the 20th minute, before the 30-year old goalie was finally beaten by Rasaq in the 39th minute.
Tampines, however, was given a reprieve after the referee chalked Rasaq’s goal off after he had adjudged to been in an offiside position when receiving the ball from Maxime Lestienne in the buildup.
The deadlock was finally broken in the 58th minute, when former Terengganu FC man Faris slammed home a powerful shot past LCS goalie Zharfan Rohaizad after he had wrestled the ball away from Hafiz Nor.
Tampines’ lead was put under question six minutes later after Faris’ opener, when captain Yasir Hanapi was sent off after receiving a second yellow card, much to the anger and frustration of the away supporters. Despite this setback, Tampines did an admirable job in sitting on their lead, staving off waves after waves of pressure from LCS.
However, the Sailors drew level in the 84th minute under controversial circumstances. An LCS player had fouled Tampines’ danger man Boris Kopitovic, with the referee signaling play on despite Kopitovic writhing in pain on the pitch. With Kopitovic down and the ball still in play, Faris shoved Lestienne when the two were dueling for an aerial ball within the LCS box, resulting in the referee further angering the Tampines supporter by awarding the home side a penalty kick following a VAR review.
Lestienne took it upon himself to execute the penalty, and the former Standard Liege player made no mistakes from the spot, beating Syazwan with a powerful shot that restored parity.
No further goals were scored until the end of the match, with the two teams sharing the spoils in a 1-1 draw.
The draw meant that Tampines are level in points but with an inferior goal difference compared to leaders Albirex, with the two teams both having 30 points to their name. LCS, on the other hand, are three points behind the duo, with 27 points to their name.
Wednesday’s other match saw Hougang United edge out Brunei DPMM 3-2 at the Jalan Besar Stadium on the back of an Amy Recha hat-trick.