Photo Credit: Lion City Sailors FC
The King of the Grass has arrived. With the amount of biceps flexing in Bishan Stadium, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see signups for ActiveSG gym memberships skyrocket. Rei Da Grama gave fans plenty of opportunities to do his signature celebration, and boy did we relish it. But even the most optimistic of fans wouldn’t have seen this coming.
Quick Off The Mark
Anderson endured a considerably slow start to life in Singapore, with our last post-match review a scathing assessment of his time so far. The criticism has been fair, if not at least a cause for concern, with a barren run stretching across 5 games. There has been loose touches and a general lack of rhythm, exacerbated by the lack of end product. After all, a striker’s worth their weight in goal.
Personally though, I have been affording more patience to our Number 18. Lest we forget, Lennart Thy, last season’s top marksman, also had a tough time adjusting to our league. He ended up finishing second only behind the omnipotent Tomoyuki Doi. Similarly, Anderson cited the artificial turf as a major reason for his struggles. No matter, he had the perfect opportunity to back up his words at Bishan Stadium, with freshly laid grass for our first ACL Two home game of the season.
Anderson quickly shelved the 007 memes in the 7th minute. Granted, he had already scored twice off the bench in the previous game, but critics were largely unconvinced. But it wasn’t just the goals that changed their minds. He showed good touches as a target man, quick on the turn and laying it off for his teammates, before occupying the opposing centre backs.
This performance elevated players around him, resulting in some of the best attacking moves of the season thus far. It wasn’t an exaggeration for Coach Rankovic to state post-match that the scoreline should have been higher, though not for a lack of trying.
Double Whammy
But back to the goals. The first was a close-range header, the result of a team move that saw Bart Ramselaar sit Quentin Cheng down, Maxime Lestienne with a headed assist and Anderson nodding it home. Our front 3 being involved in the first goal so early in the game was a great sign of things to come, with the second arriving just 5 minutes later.
This time, a scramble in the box saw Bart attempt a volley from outside the area. A kind deflection found its way to Anderson, who had the presence of mind to round the keeper and place the ball in an empty net. These 2 goals showcased his ability to sense opportunities in and around the box, and will absolutely do wonders for his confidence.
It was a perfect start for the Sailors, and the Red Giants found it hard to progress up the pitch. Momentum was with the home side, and the result seemed inevitable. However, dark clouds soon started to loom over Bishan Stadium.
Lightning Warning System
Just past the half-hour mark, play was halted due to the presence of lightning. Players went back to the dressing room, fans looked for shelter, and play would only resume 95 minutes later.
The Selangor players started like The Flash, increasing the pressure and intensity from kick-off. This paid dividends for them as a good ball in behind forced Ivan Sušak to make contact with Chrigor Moraes. The striker made no mistake from the spot to pull one back for the visitors.
Of course, there was only one striker on the pitch that decided the game. Anderson would complete his perfect hat-trick in first half stoppage time, with yet another deflection falling his way. The invitation was duly received, this time a right footed finish.
Poker-Trick
Ask a betting man to accurately predict the goals, and you would be hard pressed to find one. Our Brazilian forward would go on to score his 4th in the second half, largely down to Bart’s strong run from our own half. It was the best of the bunch, a classic counter attack culminating with a deft finish over the keeper.
Anderson could have scored 3 with his weaker right foot alone, when a sublime ball from Diogo Costa evaded the entire defence and was placed on a plate to finish. Alas, perhaps nobody expected the quality of the ball, and it went over the bar harmlessly.
Nevertheless, this was a brilliant display from Anderson, and he was rightfully serenaded with ‘Oh Anderson Lopes’ chants throughout the night. Being able to bring on Lennart and Shawal for Anderson and Maxime is testament to our growing squad depth.
The game wasn’t quite over yet, and there was time for Faisal Halim to net a consolation goal. He is back to his brilliant best after the horrific acid attack last year, and we wish him all the best in his future endeavours (just not against the Sailors!).
Du Du Du Du – We Love Sailors
In a week gripped by Formula 1 fever, it was the Sailors who capitalised on a quick start to collect the 3 points. Other than Anderson’s goals, Ivan had an assured performance in goal (bar the nervy restart). Based on the evidence from the past few games, Izwan and Ivan might be rotating in the competitions. I sincerely hope they push each other for the starting spot as both of them are quality keepers and have merits to start. For now, it seems starting Izwan in the SPL would allow for more foreigners in the midfield or attack which ultimately will leave us with more options on the bench as well.
Looking forward, we have a healthy lead in the SPL, and having moved back to our stomping ground at Bishan we should expect continued results and goals from our Sailors. In terms of the ACL Two, an away win in Bangkok will put us in a very healthy position to secure safe passage to the next round. Having done well against Thai sides last season, it would not be surprising to see us perform at a familiar ground.
Fingers crossed the weather elements are in our favour this time!
Written by Ernest
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