Walking away from a game with nothing in hand after taking the lead twice must be a bitter pill to swallow for the players, coaches and fans alike for the Cheetahs.
After dominating almost three quarters of the game, and looking like securing a stunning victory against a resurgent Tanjong Pagar recovering its glory days, however, the Cheetahs were punished with two late goals.
However, there were positives from the defeat by the Jaguars. The Cheetahs look sharp in attack and finally scored in the league, after 207 minutes without scoring. Robert Eziakor, our pre-season leading scorer finally opening his account and also another member of our defence, Hasree Zais, finally netting his first senior goal in the S.League.
The game also saw the return of our Canadian winger Jerome Baker, who looked sharp and fast every time he’s on the ball. He look the most dangerous player on the pitch against the Cheetahs, and would completed his comeback in style, if only he netted a goal during that game.
And it would be a nice time to face Geylang International FC, who are currently finding their stride in the league. Apart from the 4-1 mauling of Harimau Muda in Pasir Gudang, the newly look Eagles have been struggling to score; with their new signings of Shotaro Ihata, Norihiro Kawakami and Takuma Ito have yet to replicate their form the season before, which had prompted the Eagles to sign them for this season.
However, their influential skipper Jozef Kaplan remains their main threat in goal. The Eagles top dog last season is the only player who have netted more than once this season, and looked to show more promises game after game for the Eastern outfit. However, facing an in-form Fadhil Salim and Syaqir Sulaiman might be too big of a task for the Eagles.
The Cheetahs will be most likely to welcome back captain Lau Meng Meng, after completing his two-game suspension, and probably start for this game in either full-back slots. Alongside with the mercurial Guinean and crowd favourtite Mamadou Diallo, who missed the Jaguars game due to a swollen ankle, both will be looking to shore up the attack prowess in the team, and with Diallo being a constant thorn for most of the defences for the last few seasons, the Cheetahs will be favourites to return to winning ways when they visit Bedok Stadium on Wednesday.
