Tampines Rovers again put us upstairs in the top tier, but it was them who ended up in tears at the end of the night. After an electrifying performance, especially in the first half, we went in 3-0 ahead at half-time, and I think many will be forgiven for thinking that it was game over. Credit to Tampines Rovers of course for making it slightly difficult, but when our attack is in this type of form, it is very hard to stop us from picking up maximum points, and so it proved, as Maxime Lestienne and Richairo Zivkovic picked up a hat-trick and a brace respectively, to see us score 5 goals at Our Tampines Hub. Electrifying.
This season, we have scored 5 or more goals 5 times –
10 April 2023 – Hougang 0 LCS 5
1 June 2023 – Balestier 4 LCS 5
1 July 2023 – Tanjong Pagar 1 LCS 7
31 July 2023 – LCS 5 Balestier Khalsa 2
4 August 2023 – Tampines 2 LCS 5
Amazingly, none of these 5 times was against Young Lions, the whipping boys this season. These goals have contributed to our very-impressive tally of 68 goals. Electrifying.
Not only is there quantity when it comes to goals, there is quality as well. And speaking of quality of goals, let’s start right there with Maxime’s performance and three goals. Electrifying.
Chips Ahoy! (Maxime Loves his Chips)
Yes, in case you were wondering about the relevance of using a picture of Chips Ahoy! cookies for this article, this part should explain it.
Maxime is a Sailor. Sailors shout “Ahoy”. Maxime tried 3 chips against Syazwan Buhari and scored two goals. My tangled gluttonous mind immediately thought of chocolate chip cookies when I saw this happen. Yes I know, I am weird. Sorry not sorry. Moving on.
As early as the 2nd minute, Maxime had already tried to chip Syazwan and was unlucky not to hit the target. It was Kyoga Nakamura who made the error, giving the ball away in the face of some heavy Sailors pressure. Without missing a beat, Maxime immediately hit the loose ball over Syazwan, but unfortunately over the bar as well. 1st out of 3 chips unsuccessful.
The 2nd of 3 chips, in the 18th minute, was rather more successful. Tampines once again lost it in defence, and Lestienne robbed Yasir Hanapi who didn’t know he was right behind him. Once again, without missing a beat, and with just a very quick glance, Maxime utilises his left leg like a sand wedge (golfing term) to achieve just the right amount of height to get it up and over Syazwan for a lovely goal. 2-0, 18 min gone, Tampines are well and truly rocked. The audacity and quick thinking to chip it in from that range? Electrifying.
The 3rd chip came as a result of some brilliant defensive work by Hariss to win possession in midfield. A quick measured ball over the top from Diego Lopes into the box sent Lestienne free, and with the keeper coming to close down the angle, Maxime chipped him. Now if that were me in that spot, I would’ve just admired how the ball arced nicely over Syazwan and get ready to celebrate. But not Maxime, he continues his run and when it comes off the post, he is in position to tap the rebound in. Elite. Hat-trick goal. Oh, and lest I forget, electrifying.
Stadium Announcer for Tampines
If by now, you’re wondering why I am using the word “electrifying” in almost every damn paragraph, it’s because days after the game and even though we won 5-2, I still cannot get over the fact that the Tampines Rovers stadium announcer described Boris Kopentovic’s penalty as “electrifying”. So let me address it now so that I can scratch that itch and the word “electrifying” won’t have to appear again.
Now, if you think that I raise it up to say that the stadium announcer is shit – far from it. In fact, I give him a 9/10 because I think the energy was on point. In a game where there was nothing much for Tampines fans to get excited about, the 2nd goal after being 3-0 down needed some hyping up – the crowd was already excited at the tantalising prospect of a comeback, and the announcer had to feed the fire a bit more, to really get a rousing atmosphere going. What I especially liked was the repeated chant of “BORIS”, leaving the fans to fill in the blanks with shouts of “Kopitovic”. It is engaging, and it really got the crowd going.
Of course, the small criticism I have is of the word “electrifying”. Someone buy the man a thesaurus or a dictionary so that a more appropriate word can be used there. How on God’s green earth is that penalty an “electrifying goal”? It was a good penalty, but you know, you’re expected to score those. Minor quibble! Still, major props to the stadium announcer, who probably won’t read this. Post-match I chatted with Brandon and Barry, and Barry said that he felt the announcer was doing a good job of delivering excitement to the fans, rather than just saying what he needs to say in a drab tone. Let’s see more of this at other stadiums!
Pressing from the Front
Look at these two images.
You can see that the Sailors really tried to keep a compact block in the middle to force Tampines to play it wide. However, Tampines are very good passers and this season a lot of their success has come because they’ve dared to play even in congested middle areas. Usually this is aided by Kyoga Nakamura – who is a steadying presence in the midfield, always resisting the press with short sharp movements to manipulate himself into a position to get his team out of trouble and then to facilitate the attack.
However, he did not have a great game, and there was consistently someone on him. The Sailors were also quick to pounce on any poor touch, which meant that Tampines would have to be at their very best to play through this Sailors block in the middle.
Alas, given their shaky recent form, and the chopping and changing of personnel due to suspensions and injuries, they were nowhere near their best, and the Sailors were able to capitalise. I thought Rasaq, Anu and Hariss in particular put a lot of pressure on Tampines, and although they won’t get the headlines, they were crucial to this performance.
Rasaq could have added a goal to his impressive defensive performance, but alas it was not to be. It was a flowing move, and had he scored it, it would have been 4-0 at half-time and the town council painters would really have come round to paint OTH blue. He will be kicking himself.
Richairo Zivkovic – Mobile Legend
For the majority of last season, everyone was crying out for a striker who was more mobile than Kim Shin-Wook. The thinking was that having a targetman figure upfront did not help the Sailors in their quest to play flowing football – he was too one-dimensional, too predictable. Worst of all, most fans felt he wasn’t clinical enough.
Well, in Richairo, we now have someone who is much more mobile, and if he keeps up his performances (and extends his contract beyond just the 1 year), I think we might see him become a legend for this club.
When he first came, i was shocked that the club was able to pull not just an Eredivisie player, but an Eredivisie player who regularly started last season. And then I started watching the highlights and looked forward to seeing a player with some serious pace and technique. And it’s lovely that we are all witnessing it now. He was pulling the defenders out of shape by drifting all over the pitch, he was holding the ball up with his big frame and technique, he was running in behind onto through passes (like he did for the 4th goal) – he was doing it all. He is a complete forward and Sailors are lucky to have him.
With his addition, I really feel like we’re gonna do OK for the Champions League, maybe even better our points tally from last year?
Yasir Hanapi
Alot has been made about Yasir Hanapi’s reaction after losing the ball to Maxime Lestienne for the second goal. People have slammed him for not being captain material – netizens feel that he should have chased back to win the ball first, instead of just putting his hands up to the sky in disgust and sulking. I have some sympathy for him because his mistake was punished in the most direct way – Maxime chipped the keeper from far out. Often times, a player would have a reaction, but still be able to pick himself up in the half a second after, to sprint back and try to win the ball. In this case, Maxime’s speed of thought made that impossible.
However, when I think back to how many times he fell down looking for a cheap free kick, I perhaps lose the sympathy I had for him. Fella went down everytime he got a touch. If the song Everytime We Touch was written about Yasir Hanapi, then it’d be set to a backing track of ambulance sirens with intermittent sounds of the Crew booing.
The Fans
Shunted to the 4th floor for no real reason – all other away teams just sit on the right hand side of the 1st floor, the Lion City Sailors fans were undeterred in their efforts to match and outshout the raucous Tampines support. I have to say both teams really created a great atmosphere, and of course the result meant that Sailors fans had more to shout about and were thus naturally much louder as the game wore on.
I wish we were put on the same floor as the Tampines fans, as sometimes the back-and-forth banter can be very entertaining. However, in a sense, I think being shoved upstairs away from the action gave the fans a true togetherness. It was like the feeling of being cramped together in a faraway place brought out this mini siege-mentality, and it made us cheer extra loud. The noise level did not drop from minute 1 to minute 90, and I am so proud of what the fans achieved together.
Conclusion
With just 2 games to go, it would take a minor miracle for Tampines to pip us to second spot, while it would take a major miracle for us to prevent Albirex from defending their title. I can’t help but look at the dropped points against DPMM and Young Lions (the two draws where we comprehensively outplayed them) and think what that additional 4 points could have done for us. There are many other missed moments as well, but sometimes you just have to credit a tough opponent, and Albirex is the toughest opponent.
As for Tampines, the fact that they are only 4 points behind is testament to Gavin’s excellent management and the sterling efforts that all the Rovers players have put in. They were not meant to be pushing the leaders the way they did. It was quite sad seeing Tampines fans online asking for Gavin to be sacked. You don’t know a good thing till it’s gone , folks!
Anyway, Friday was another good advertisement for the league, and I hope that next season brings more of such nights.
Written by Eddy Hirono
P.S. Many people have been asking about how they can purchase the Crew shirts (both the blue and black versions). Article on that coming soon!
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