TANJONG PAGAR UNITED 1
Monsef Zerka 21′
HOUGANG UNITED 0
If any promising young footballer, would want to be a goalkeeper, look no further than Jags’ custodian Aurelien Herrisson, who gave a Man of a Match performance for his fantastic defence of his goal at the Queenstown Stadium on Thursday evening.
A wet pitch due to the afternoon rain had provided enough challenges, particularly for goalkeepers, but that does not hampered both goalkeepers’ spirit and their fantastic showing. In fact, the game was truly an exhibition for the goalkeepers.
It took a fantastic run by Monsef Zerka in the 21st minute, after a great pass from Kamel Ramdhani, to slot the ball past Fadhil Salim, to end the game up in favour of the home side.
However, the Cheetahs were unlucky for the second time, after dominating a whooping 65% of the game, but just could not find the back of the net.
The Cheetahs would have a great start, after a cross from Fazli Jaffar from the left was met by Azhar Sairudin, if only his volley didn’t deflected off Anthony Aymard for a corner.
Diallo had also another opportunity, with only Herrisson to beat, however, his shot hit the side netting.
On 33 minutes, a corner from Fazli Jaffar was met by a header from Nurhilmi Jasni, only for his header to hit the post from six yards out.
The score remained 1-0 in favour of the Jags at half time, but Hougang would not want to repeat the same mistake as they did against Woodlands and Harimau Muda in recent games.
A Nurhilmi Jasni’s chance and Diallo’s fantastic shot from outside the penalty box threatened the defence, but Aurelien Herrisson looked like he had an invisible wall in front of him.
But the best chance of the night was Azhar Sairudin’s freekick on 60 minutes, which looked destined for the top left hand corner of the net, but Herrisson diving a full length to save the probable equalizer.
Johana Johari then threw in Liam Shotton to replace Fazli Jaffar to shore the play upfront.
It looked hopeful for the Hougang faithfuls in the last ten minutes, where most possession were at the Tanjong Pagar half, however Herrisson and his stout defence repelled every chance that comes into Hougang’s way.
Tanjong Pagar then almost made it two nil after a rare chance, with Monsef Zerka looking to have every chance to score, however, Faizal Amir managed to reached out to the ball, before Zerka pulled the trigger.
It was another dimishing night for the Cheetahs, with two games they have dominated the proceedings, but failed to find the net, and returned home without any points.
HOUGANG UNITED
Fadhil Salim, Igor Cerina, Syaqir Sulaiman, Lau Meng Meng, Faizal Amir, Thomas Beattie, Azhar Sairudin (Sobrie Mazelan 74′), Fazli Jaffar (Liam Shotton 76′), Nurhilmi Jasni, Jerome Baker, Mamadou Diallo
TANJONG PAGAR UNITED
Aurelien Herrisson, Anthony Aymard, Walid Lounis, Hanafi Salleh, Ahmad Latiff Kamaruddin, Kamel Ramdhani, John Wilkinson, Hafiz Nor (Azhar Ahmad 90′), Asraf Rashid (K.Vikraman 90′), Monsef Zerka, Ismael Benahmed
