TAMPINES ROVERS 1
Miljan Mrdakovic 44′
HOUGANG UNITED 1
Geison Moura 63′
A second half goal by Brazillian forward Geison Moura, his 12th for the campaign, cancelled out Miljan Mrdakovic’s strike late in the first half.
Missing their regulars Wahyudi Wahid, Erwan Gunawan and Shunsuke Nakatake, all through suspension, meant that the game would not be easy for the Cheetahs. Defender Igor Ferreira Alves made his debut for the club as cover for the suspended Wahyudi Wahid.
Without Shunsuke Nakatake, the Cheetahs had difficulties keeping the ball in midfield. However, the ever spirited Hougang United side did not cave after going behind just before the break. Hougang are unbeaten in four matches and remained sixth, just a point behind Albirex Niigata.
Tampines suffered an early blow as veteran fullback Shaiful Esah pulled his hamstring in the 7th minute and was replaced by Abdil Qaiyim. Neither goalkeepers were tested until a quarter hour into the match.
In the 44th minute, Miljan Mrdakovic headed home from a cross from Ismadi Muktar.
After the break , Tampines goalkeeper had to make an acrobatic save to deny Hougang an equaliser from Diego Gama’s header. On the other side, Fadhil Salim made a flying save to deny Kaplan’s curling shot.
On the 63rd minute, Lau Meng Meng sent in a cross towards Geison Moura as he glanced in a header which caught Pasfield by surprise. Encouraged by the equalizer, Hougang went in search for the winner and came close in the 84th minute when Fazli successfully went past a Tampines player, breaking into the left before crossing it low. Diego Gama arrived just a fraction too late.
The Cheetahs will next meet Geylang International to revenge their loss against the Eagles early this season.
HOUGANG UNITED
Fadhil Salim, Firman Hanif, Igor Ferreira Alves, Lau Meng Meng, Faizal Amir, Azhar Sairudin (Syaqir Sulaiman 90′), Nurhilmi Jasni (Faiz Salleh 85′), Fairoz Hasan, Fazli Jaffar, Geison Moura, Diego Gama
TAMPINES ROVERS
Jason Pasfield, Kunihiro Yamashita, Jacob Butler, Shaiful Esah (Abdil Qayyim 7′), Anaz Hadee, Fahrudin Mustafic, Ismadi Mukhtar, Shahdan Sulaiman, Jozef Kaplan, Noh Alam Shah (Imran Sahib 67′), Miljan Mrdakovic
