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Azhar Inspires Home United to S.League Win vs. Tampines Rovers
Home United have won three games in a row for the first time since 2014 . | PHOTO: S.League
May 14th, 2016 | 07:47 AM | 1420 views
SINGAPORE
Home United came from a goal down at Jalan Besar Stadium on Friday evening to beat Tampines Rovers 2-1 and record their third consecutive win in the S.League.
After falling behind to Fazrul Nawaz's opener in the 22nd minute, the Protectors responded within a minute through an Azhar Sairudin header before Ken Ilso struck with 20 minutes remaining to hand his side maximum points.
It was a fine display from Home, especially coming up against a much-heralded Tampines side, brimming with quality in the likes of Jermaine Pennant, Billy Mehmet and Fazrul.
But while the spotlight this season has firmly been focused on the Stags and their big-name signings, the Protectors' own triumvirate of Azhar, Ilso and Faris Ramli came to the fore with some brilliant attacking play.
Tampines drew first blood in the 22nd minute when Fazrul got in behind the opposition defence following a lovely, lofted pass by Ismadi Mukhtar. He then coolly lifted his shot over the onrushing Hyrulnizam Juma'at.
However, the Protectors mustered an instant reply a minute later when Juma'at Jantan's right-wing cross picked out Azhar. He made no mistake in finding the far corner with his glancing header.
While the Stags had the dominant share of possession, it was Home who continued to look the more dangerous of the two teams.
And in the 70th minute, the winner duly arrived following a brilliant counterattack which started with goalkeeper Hyrulnizam and ended with Song Ui-young. He fed a through pass to Ilso, who advanced on goal before emphatically finishing past Izwan Mahbud.
Home coach Philippe Aw reserved praise for playmaker Azhar, whom he hopes will soon get international recognition from whoever is appointed the next Singapore coach.
"I'm very happy for Azhar because he's shown he can last 95 minutes while still tackling and running," said Aw. "I hope he continues like this and I hope, going forward, people give him a chance in the national team because we don't have many players in Singapore football that have his technical ability in finding the final ball.
"It was a battling display from the team and we really wanted this win. Someone told me three days ago that Home United hasn't won three games in a row since 2014 so it was something we spoke about, and I'm glad we broke this statistic.
"Now we have another important game against Brunei DPMM next Thursday and we want to keep this momentum going."
Meanwhile, having seen his side last in action on Tuesday in a crucial 1-0 win over Selangor in the AFC Cup, Tampines coach V. Sundramoorthy admitted fatigue had been a factor.
"We did well to get the lead but then we went to sleep," said the former Singapore international. "With the possession we had, we at least should have had some chances to try and hit the target but when you don't convert the possession, [Home] were always going to get one or two chances.
"Of course, I'm a bit concerned about the number of games we've had to play in such a short period.
"It's been tough on us but we need to recover and come back. What else can we do?"
With the win, Home are now up to third on the table while Tampines remain five points behind leaders Albirex Niigata (S).
Tampines Rovers: Izwan Mahbud, Noh Rahman, Fahrudin Mustafic, Shakir Hamzah, Irwan Shah, Ismadi Mukhtar (Jordan Webb 72'), Izzdin Shafiq, Yasir Hanapi (Jermaine Pennant 46'), Hafiz Abu Sujad (Sufian Anuar 82'), Billy Mehmet, Fazrul Nawaz.
Home United: Hyrulnizam Juma'at, Juma'at Jantan, Abdil Qaiyyim, Shahrin Saberin, Sirina Camara, Aqhari Abdullah (Syahiran Miswan 72'), Song Ui-young, Shamil Sharif (Redzwan Atan 82'), Azhar Sairudin, Faris Ramli, Ken Ilso.
Source:
courtesy of ESPNFC
by Gabriel Tan
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