Cheetahs begin with a bang

Albirex 1-2 Hougang | Jurong East | 1 February

Shingo Nakano 63' | Zulfahmi Arifin 18', Dejan Račić 25'

Two goals in the first half did the trick for Hougang with Zulfahmi’s shot from the edge of the area trickling past Albirex goalkeeper Hassan Sunny, before Račić bundled home Farhan Zulkifli’s teasing cross. Nakano pulled one back after the break with an unerring finish, but that proved to be a consolation for Albirex. 

Facts

• Hougang has now won all three matches under the charge of interim Head Coach Robert Eziakor. 

• Zulfahmi has now netted in back-to-back appearances for Hougang. 

• Račić has scored 19 goals in 20 appearances for Hougang across all competitions this season. 

Albirex: Hassan Sunny (GK), Ryhan Stewart, Koki Kawachi, Stevia Egbus Mikuni, Junki Yoshimura, Yohei Otake, Syed Firdaus Hassan (C), Haziq Kamarudin (Daniel Goh 81’), Arshad Shamim (Shingo Nakano 46’), Taiki Maeda (Arshad Shamim 74’), Shuhei Hoshino. 

Unused subs: Dylan Pereira (GK), Amy Recha, Syukri Bashir, Syahrul Sazali, Daniel Martens, Kenji Austin, Rauf Anaqi Khan.

Hougang: Zaiful Nizam (GK), Nazrul Nazari (C), Jovan Mugoša, Daniel Henrique, Danish Irfan (Jordan Vestering 75’), Zulfahmi Arifin (Shodai Yokoyama 34’), Shahdan Sulaiman, Ismail Salihović, Gabriel Quak (Stjepan Plazonja 64’), Farhan Zulkifli, Dejan Račić. 

Unused subs: Kenji Rusydi (GK), Hazzuwan Halim, Justin Hui, Nazhiim Harman, Zamani Zamri, Tan-Vaissierre Louka.

DPMM rescue late point

BG Tampines 1-1 DPMM | Jalan Besar | 1 February

Seia Kunori 80' | Nazry Aiman 90+5'

Kunori thought he had won BG Tampines the game when his late free-kick took a deflection off Azwan Ali Rahman before going in, but DPMM rallied with Nazry lashing in a stunner five minutes into injury time for a dramatic late leveller. 

Facts

• BG Tampines kept up their record of scoring in every domestic match (both in the league and Cup) this season. 

• Nazry scored his first-ever professional goal. 

• Tampines’ Rae Peh made his first professional appearance. 

BG Tampines: Syazwan Buhari (GK) (C), Irfan Najeeb (Amirul Adli 85’), Shuya Yamashita, Dylan Fox, Miloš Zlatković, Shah Shahiran, Kyoga Nakamura, Glenn Kweh (Taufik Suparno 59’), Joel Chew (Arya Igami Tarhani 59’), Seia Kunori (Rae Peh 90’+2), Itsuki Enomoto (Yasir Hanapi 85’). 

Unused subs: Ridhuan Barudin (GK), Amirul Haikal, Kieran Tan. 

DPMM: Kristijan Naumovski (GK), Syafiq Safiuddin (Nazry Aiman 68’), Yura Indera Putera, Damir Muminović, Najib Tarif, Farshad Noor, Azwan Ali Rahman (C) (Abdul Hariz Herman 90’), Miguel Oliveira, Nazirrudin Ismail (Hariz Danial Khallidden 85’), Gabriel Gama, Dāvis Ikaunieks. 

Unused subs: Haimie Nyaring (GK), Hanif Farhan, Azwan Saleh, Faturrahman Embran, Nurikhwan Othman, Wafi Aminuddin.

BG Pathum off to winning start

Tanjong Pagar 1-2 BG Pathum| Jurong East | 2 February 

Salif Cissé 9’ | Marco Ballini 22’, Hwang Myeonghyeon 76’

Cissé put Tanjong Pagar ahead with an opportunistic goal, but BG Pathum found a quick equaliser with Ballini nodding home a close-range header before grabbing the winner in the second half with fellow centre-back Hwang poking home from a set-piece routine. 

Facts

• Cissé has scored eight goals in 14 appearances for Tanjong Pagar in all competitions this season. 

• BG Pathum also won the opening Cup game in 2009 and 2010 when they competed in the Singapore Cup as Bangkok Glass. 

Tanjong Pagar: Matthew Silva (GK) (C), Syed Akmal, Timur Talipov, Faizal Roslan, Zenivio Mota (Izrafil Yusof 90’), Rezza Rezky (Syahadat Masnawi 64’), Azim Akbar (Sahil Suhaimi 62’), Raihan Rahman, Shodai Nishikawa, Tomoki Wada, Salif Cissé (Sahil Suhaimi 69’). 

Unused subs: Prathip Ekamparam (GK), Riki Kimura (GK), Farid Jafiri, Umar Akhbar, Saiful Azhar, Marcus Mosses. 

BG Pathum: Jung Hyeon-ho (GK), Santipharp Channgom, Hwang Myeonghyeon, Marco Ballini, Kodai Tanaka, Kanokpon Puspakom, Nattawut Suksum, Waris Choolthong (Thanet Suknate 68’), Freddy Álvarez (C) (Airfan Doloh 45’+1), Teerapat Pruetong (Surachat Sareepim 79’), Chananan Pombubpha. 

Unused subs: Saranon Anuin (GK), Sanchai Nontasila, Ilhan Fandi. 

Tigers edge absolute thriller

Geylang 4-5 Balestier | Jalan Besar | 2 February 

Tomoyuki Doi 5’, 45’, 81’, Keito Hariya 15’ | Anton Fase 3’, Kodai Tanaka 25’, 50’, 59’, Ignatius Ang 60’

A rollercoaster match saw Fase nodding Balestier ahead early on, before Geylang rallied with Doi heading home Iqbal Hussain’s corner before Hariya poked home off a set-piece to put the Eagles ahead. Tanaka levelled for Balestier with a brilliant solo effort, but Geylang retook the lead at 3-2 with Doi netting from close range. The away side was revitalised in the second half, with Tanaka netting two sumptuous efforts to complete his hat-trick before Ang lashed in a low effort in a stunning turnaround. Doi pulled one back and completed his own treble, but it was too little too late for Geylang. 

Facts

• Doi and Tanaka both netted hat-tricks in this one. 

• Doi has now scored 37 goals in 23 appearances in all competitions this season, while Tanka has 20 in 22 games. 

• Geylang’s Hud Ismail made his first-ever professional start, while teammate Prince Rio Rifae’l made his professional bow. 

Geylang: Rudy Khairullah (GK), Akmal Azman, Rio Sakuma (C), Keito Hariya, Hud Ismail (Naufal Azman 62’), Huzaifah Aziz (Jake Ellenberger 85’), Takahiro Tezuka, Iqbal Hussain, Ryoya Taniguchi, Saifullah Akbar (Prince Rio Rifae’l 73’), Tomoyuki Doi. 

Unused subs: Hairul Syirhan (GK), Syafi Suhaimi, Raiyan Noor. 

Balestier: Hafiz Ahmad (GK), Darren Teh, Abdil Qaiyyim (Sheikh Faris 86’), Madhu Mohana, Harith Kanadi (Ignatius Ang 46’), Alen Kozar (C), Jared Gallagher, Masahiro Sugita (Elijah Lim 82’), Riku Fukashiro, Anton Fase (Amiruldin Asraf 76’), Kodai Tanaka. 

Unused subs: Martyn Mun (GK), Emmeric Ong, Fudhil I’yadh, N Sakthivelchezhian, Reycredo Bukit.