HARIMAU MUDA 3
Ramzi Suffian 6′, Nurshamil Abd Ghani 65′, 90+2
HOUGANG UNITED 4
Nurhilmi Jasni 1′, Geison Moura 45′, Diego Gama 58′, Shunsuke Nakatake 77′
The Cheetahs snapped an unwanted two game losing streak by beating Harimau Muda with a 4:3 slender win.
Visiting the daunting Pasir Gudang Stadium, the Cheetahs needed the points badly after disappointing defeats against Geylang & DPMM.
Harimau Muda had just picked up one point from their last eight games but the league knows they were not easy pickings, especially when they almost clinch points against Tampines and Courts Young Lions last time round.
Hougang had the best start possible. Nurhilmi Jasni pounced upon a pass from Igor Cerina, beating the offside trap, and slotted the ball towards the right side of the keeper and into the net. The time taken for the goal was only 33 seconds – undoubtedly the fastest goal in the S.League this season.
However six minutes later, a mistake from goalkeeper Nazri Sabri led to a Harimau equalizer, with Ramzi Suffian heading into an empty net.
Harimau Muda then took control of the game up till the half time mark. A Cheetahs counter attack led to a cross that saw Ahmad Solehin punching the ball right into the path of Geison Moura, who duly scored his eighth goal of the campaign.
The second half was a different affair with Hougang taking charge of the proceedings. They found their third goal on the 58th minute. Diego Gama lashed a 30 yard shot, which Ahmad Solehin tried to punch over the bar but ended up punching the ball into the net. Coach Razip Ismail subsequently replaced Solehin with Ilham Amirulah.
Harimau Muda’s second goal came in the 65th minute when Nurshamil lashed a 30-yarder towards the bottom corner. Nazri Sabri managed to get his hand on the ball but it squirmed into the bottom corner of the net.
Three minutes later, a positioning mistake by Ilham Amirulah resulted in a scramble outside the penalty box that ended with Shunsuke Nakatake chipping the ball into the unguarded net.
Hougang was then reduced to ten men in the 85th minute after Firman Hanif was sent off by the referee for his response to conceding a free kick.
Harimau Muda scored another consolation goal with the penultimate kick of the game but the night belonged to the Cheetahs with a valuable away win from across the causeway.
HOUGANG UNITED
Nazri Sabri, Firman Hanif (sent off 85′), Igor Cerina (c), Faizal Amir, Wahyudi Wahid (Lau Meng Meng 45′), Shunsuke Nakatake, Nurhilmi Jasni, Erwan Gunawan (Durica Zuparic 81′), Fazli Jaffar (Nazirul Islam 87′), Diego Gama, Geison Moura.
HARIMAU MUDA
Ahmad Sollehin (Ilham Amirullah 62′), Akmal Chin, Ashmawi Yakin, Hardee Samsuri (Nurshamil Abd Ghani 65′), Ramzi Haziq, Syazwan Saipol Bahari (Syawal Nordin 87′), Naim Zakaria, Ramzi Suffian, Nor Azam Abd Azih, Annas Rahmat, Afiq Razali
