Without question, the worst performance I’ve ever seen Hougang put in against us. And yes, that includes the 9-4 drubbing a few years back. I remember at 6-1, I turned to a fan in the stands and went – I think this could hit double digits.
That we didn’t hit double digits is to no credit of Hougang’s – we simply eased off a little, and also could have been a little sharper with some of our finishing and decision-making. Hougang is a team in big trouble and for the sake of the league, I hope they fix things soon. If you’re wondering – hey, didn’t they just beat Albirex? Yes, they did, but Albirex is in even bigger trouble. Another story for another day.
Here’s some of my post-match thoughts.
Setpiece Horror
As predicted in the preview, Bailey was gonna score from a setpiece. This happened in the first half off a Maxime Lestienne corner kick. This also happened in the second half when Toni Datkovic rose highest to head home from another Maxime Lestienne corner kick.
For both goals, the defending was so poor. Where was the marking, and why was Ensar Bruncevic not jumping to compete? You know it’s bad when even opposition fans are frustrated on behalf of Hougang fans.
The goals from Bailey and Toni mean that Hougang has now conceded 8 goals from set pieces this season, the highest in the league. Bailey is on 3 goals this season – 7 more to hit his season’s target!
Also, I know it’s not a setpiece goal but I will comment on it here because it’s a headed goal. As good as Shawal’s goal was – please take a look at the replay. He had so much space he could have set up a shop, or maybe even a whole shopping centre there. How can you leave him alone in the box? Just mind-boggling, especially when you consider that he was on their books for 3 years, so they should know exactly what he is capable of.
While the Hougang team may be in a terrible state, credit must be given to the fans, who kept singing for most of the match, but quite understandably faded off nearing the end of the game. For the sake of their fans, I hope Hougang bucks up.
Lennart Thy Man of the Match
Lennart Thy was given the Man of the Match award, and I think it was well-deserved. There may be some debate about this considering he did miss 2 big chances. In the post-match interview, he admitted this as well, saying he should have had 4 or 5 goals.
I too, think that he should have scored more in this game – but I would like to use the following paragraphs to once again state how much I admire his selflessness and his teamplay. Strikers are usually selfish, and look to pass as a last resort – but look at the lead-up to the 7th goal. Once he got the ball and saw Haiqal Pashia making a good run ahead of him, without a second thought he played a brilliant through pass into the open space on his WEAK FOOT. The vision, ability and willingness to do that is amazing.
He then got his reward a few moments later when he continued running to support the attack, and when Maxime and Pashia made a right mess of a presentable scoring opportunity, he was there to reverse a shot on his left foot past Zaiful Nizam.
As for the two big chances he missed? Well, he should be putting those away, and while that’s negative, a positive is that he is even getting these chances. Let’s take a look at the English Premier League’s stat for big chances missed. You might see a few familiar names in there.
Well, surely noone is saying that Erling Haaland is a poor striker? I think the jury is still out on Lennart as a finisher, but the big consolation is that he’s still very much a team player who offers so much more than just goals. He has 4 goals, 3 assists, and 1 secondary assist in his 8 matches with us. For someone who’s had a supposedly slow start, I think those are already very encouraging stats.
While there may be some who say that a striker’s goal is to get goals, I think the main goalscoring threats in this team are clearly Maxime and Shawal. If Lennart Thy’s selfless teamwork allows those two to bang in the goals, then I won’t be complaining.
Regardless, I’m sure there’s more to come from him, and more chances for the Crew to belt out the truly awful Lennart Thy chant (sung to the tune of the chorus of Wa Meng Ti). If you are curious about what the lyrics are ….
Lennart Thy, Lennart Thy,
From Eredivisie,
Number 9 from Germany,
On a goalscoring spree!
Lennart Thy’s First Goal was Offside
A little funny that I just sang his praises and now I am looking to convince you that his 1st goal was offside. But it clearly was offside.
First, you can see here that both Shawal and Song are in an offside position when Lennart hits the ball towards goal. Shawal is far from the action so is irrelevant, but Song is right in front of Zaiful, slightly to his left. The shot also comes through Song. He literally hops over it.
If I were a Hougang fan, I’d be livid about this. As a Sailors fan, it is still mildly annoying because you just know one day it’s gonna be us on the end of such a shitty decision. What is the point of VAR if even with the benefit of replays and some time to think, you don’t come to the right decision?
Conclusion
There’s not much else to say here. Everyone had a good game, but Hougang were so poor I am not sure we can glean anything else from this game. Simple 1-2’s taking their defence out of the equation, half-hearted pressing (except for Shodai Yokoyama), and just a general lack of heart tell us that something is not quite right at Hougang.
In beating Hougang 7-1, we racked up an xG of 5.14, which is our highest this season. Even when we beat Albirex 7-1, our xG was only slightly above 3. Hougang not only let us shoot a lot, they let us shoot from dangerous positions – not a good combi.
I guess it was also pleasing that after a few weeks of complaining that our Sailors don’t play through the middle, Rui Pires and Hami Syahin played penetrative passes that directly led to goals, right down the middle. In particular, Hami’s delicious ball over the top for Shawal to cut in and set up Song was a right peach.
What else is there to say? Izwan was relatively untroubled but his second consecutive start confirms what we were already suspecting – he is now the number 1.
DPMM up next! Another easy game I think.
Written by Eddy Hirono
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