TANJONG PAGAR UNITED 1
Monsef Zerka 74’
HOUGANG UNITED 0
The Cheetahs were eliminated in the first round of the RHB Singapore Cup by Tanjong Pagar United on Monday Evening.
The Jaguars won a tight contest with Monsef Zerka netting the only goal in the second half to book the Jaguars a ticket to the semi-finals.
This would meant the Cheetahs were eliminated at the first hurdle for the first time since 2009, when the then-Sengkang Punggol team were also eliminated at the same stage.
The Cheetahs started out without top scorer Geison Moura. Instead, coach Amin Nasir decided to partner Diego Gama with Fairoz Hasan.
Both sides only had a few chances in the first half. Sebastien Etiemble tried his luck with a freekick that was palmed out by Fadhil Salim. Fairoz Hasan was then presented with an opportunity to put the Cheetahs infront, from a cross by Azhar Sairudin, but the ball went wide.
Tanjong Pagar’s Kamel Ramdhani then had the best chance of the half, when he had a one-on-one opportunity against Fadhil Salim, but it rolled off wide.
In the second half, Diego Gama was twice denied by the Tanjong Pagar defence, before Igor Cerina’s header went into the side netting. Fairoz Hassan then had a golden opportunity in the 63rd minute, after a poor clearance from Aurelien Herrisson, but the custodian managed to save the forward’s tame shot.
Diego Gama was presented with another chance to score with a header off an Azhar Sairudin’s corner kick, but his shot was cleared off the line by Ahmad Latiff.
The game was settled by Monsef Zerka’s header, off a cross from Kamel Ramdhani. The ball which flew past Fadhil Salim and into the bottom corner of the net.
HOUGANG UNITED
Fadhil Salim, Firman Hanif, Igor Cerina, Wahyudi Wahid, Faizal Amir (Durica Zuparic 88’), Shunsuke Nakatake, Azhar Sairudin, Fazli Jaffar, Erwan Gunawan (Geison Moura 65’), Fairoz Hasan, Diego Gama.
TANJONG PAGAR UNITED
Aurelien Herrisson, Hanafi Salleh, Zahid Ahmad, Ahmad Latiff, Ruzaini Zainal, Tengku Mushadad, Kamel Ramdhani, Sazali Salleh, Firdaus Idros, Sebastien Etiemble, Monsef Zerka.
