Young Lions concede early goal again in 10th straight S.League defeat
The Garena Young Lions were undone by defensive errors again as they slumped to their 10th defeat in a row. (Photo: S.League)
Four teams have conceded in the first 10 minutes this season of the S.League, and only one team has done this more than once.
On Thursday night at the Bedok Stadium, the Garena Young Lions did it for the fifth separate game as they gave up a penalty around 70 seconds after the first whistle had gone in their clash against Geylang International.
Sahil Suhaimi was adjudged to have been tripped in the box and Carlos Delgado easily dispatched the spot-kick en-route to a 3-1 win for the hosts.
It was déjà vu for Young Lions head coach Patrick Hesse, who was left fuming at the final whistle after his side crashed to a 10th successive defeat.
“When we start the game we are already losing 1-0 because the team don’t [seem to] be able to play 10 minutes without conceding a goal,” he said.
“If you cannot make (do) this, you cannot play in the S.League and I’m very, very disappointed… game after game we take a goal [early] and so you must always run (chase) after the score.”
Hesse: Young Lions need to learn quickly
The Frenchman added that his players should have learnt from previous occasions to simply clear the ball when it comes into the area, as conceding early makes it “easy for the opponents” to sit back and play on the break.
“I’m very worried about this, it’s always the same,” he continued. “Every game, we give three points to the opponents because we are not focused to fight [from] the first minute.”
It wasn’t as straightforward as it should have been for Geylang, and they laboured to three points against the league’s bottom feeder despite the early advantage.
Opposition goalkeeper Benjamin Bertrand was not troubled after repelling Stanely Ng’s effort on 11 minutes and it even looked like his side could steal an unlikely point after they levelled on 52 minutes.
A rare attack saw Rusyaidi Salime picked out in the box, only for the right-back to be bundled over clumsily by Daniel Bennett. Fareez Farhan fired home his - and the Young Lions’ - sixth goal from the spot.
Yuki Ichikawa forced a goalkeeping error to help Geylang International retake the lead. (Photo: S.League)
Late Geylang rally
Even that did not rouse the Eagles from their slumber and it took a double substitution on the hour mark to turn the tide around as Hasrin Jailani introduced Amy Recha and Gabriel Quak.
“It’s not one or two players having an off-day, the whole team - all 11 players - didn’t play [well] at all,” Hasrin asserted.
“The players went to sleep [after the first goal], simple as that. We only played [football in] the last 20 minutes; there’s nothing much I can say, I think this is one of our worst performances [so far]… but sometimes, these things happen.”
It was still enough for them to come out on top though. Bertrand fumbled Yuki Ichikawa’s header into his own goal on 75 minutes, before Gabriel Quak finished things off in the 88th minute with a fine individual effort.
Shawal Anuar and Quak wasted further chances to add gloss to the score, but it didn’t matter as the hosts registered two wins in a row for the first time this season.
“Stringing back-to-back wins is very important as this will build up the confidence of the players,” said Hasrin. “We take things one step at a time and hopefully we can bring the momentum from this and keep going; how we win doesn’t matter.
“Play well and draw or lose, or don’t play well but win the game - which one is better? I prefer the three points.”
