Thrashed 7-0 and 5-0 by Daegu FC and Urawa Red Diamonds, Chinese Club Shandong Taishan frustrated the Sailors who failed to score against a team primarily made up of youth players
Faris Ramli doing battle against Shandong Taishan in the AFC Champions League. PHOTO: LION CITY SAILORS
Buriram, Thailand, 21 April 2022 – The Sailors were on cloud nine after their historic 3-0 upset of Korea’s Daegu FC on Monday to record the first victory by a Singaporean side in the esteemed competition since 2010.
After successfully performing the role of underdogs, the Sailors had to recalibrate and assume the mentality of favourites when they faced Shandong Taishan’s reserve squad on Thursday night (April 21) in the short space of three days at the Buriram City Stadium in Thailand.
The players huffed and puffed, but their efforts were ultimately insufficient as the Sailors were held to a 0-0 draw and brought back to reality by a determined performance from Shandong’s youth players.
Maxime Lestienne weaving through the Shandong Taishan defence in the AFC Champions League. PHOTO: LION CITY SAILORS
All Chinese clubs competing in the ACL sent their reserve team for Asia’s elite club competition, opting to keep their first team players at home citing the reason of wanting to prepare for the start of the Chinese Super League season due to clashes in fixture scheduling.
With the pedigree of the Sailors’ foreign players – Diego Lopes played in Portugal’s Primeira Liga, Maxime Lestienne played in the UEFA Champions League for PSV Eindhoven, Kim Shin-Wook was a two-time AFC Champions League winner with Ulsan Hyundai and Jeonbuk Hyundai – the Sailors were expected to win this game in Group F of the Asian Football Confederation Champions League (ACL) group stages.
Instead, the Sailors could only manage a measly two shots on target despite having the lions’ share of possession and struggled to score against a watertight Shandong defence.
No luck for Song Ui-yong against Shandong Taishan after scoring against Daegu FC in the last AFC Champions League match. PHOTO: LION CITY SAILORS
The result meant the Sailors moved one point ahead of Daegu in second place, who had a game in hand when they faced off with table-toppers Urawa Red Diamonds in the later fixture of the day. The three best runners-up out of the five east region groups will progress to the tournament’s round of 16 along with the group winners.
Head coach Kim Do-Hoon made one change to the lineup, bringing in Gabriel Quak – who was hauled off after just 25 minutes in a 4-1 loss to Urawa Red Diamonds on Matchday 1 – to replace defender Tajeli Salamat in a switch to a 4-4-2 formation.
Tajeli’s exclusion was due to breaking a 10pm team curfew on Tuesday night, according to a club statement. He was subsequently expelled from the Sailors’ Asian Champions League squad along with midfielder M. Anumanthan.
Amirul Adli in action against Shandong Taishan in the AFC Champions League. PHOTO: LION CITY SAILORS
The Sailors dominated possession from kick-off, threatening to score early on when captain Hariss Harun flashed a header from Shahdan Sulaiman’s corner narrowly over the bar.
Shandong were producing a resolute defensive display of their own, and nearly got the go-ahead goal in the 21st minute when winger Yi X.L started a mazy run down the right flank dribbling past Shahdan, but the young Chinese player could only fire from close range into the side-netting.
From the resulting goal-kick, $3 million-man Diego Lopes had a golden chance to open proceedings when Gabriel Quak fired a powerful drive across goal, but the Brazilian midfielder failed to apply the finishing touch in the six-yard box.
Gabriel Quak in action against Shandong Taishan in the AFC Champions League. PHOTO: LION CITY SAILORS
The score remained deadlocked into half-time as the Sailors missed further chances courtesy of a badly-timed free header from centre-back Pedro Henrique and a miscued volley from marquee signing Maxime Lestienne.
The second 45 minutes was all about the Sailors, as they moved the ball with vigour and desire trying to break down Shandong’s rigid defensive block.
Usually clinical from set-pieces, the Sailors wasted another pristine opportunity when Pedro Henrique headed over the crossbar from Shahdan’s corner right after the restart.
Adam Swandi attempts to beat his man in Lion City Sailors' ACL Champions league match against Shandong Taishan. PHOTO: LION CITY SAILORS
It took till the 76th minute for Kim Do-Hoon’s men to register their first shot on target. Substitutes Adam Swandi and Kim Shin Wook combined, the former providing a pinpoint cut back for the Korean forward to fire a low effort from the penalty box saved by the goalkeeper. Diego Lopes was first to react to the rebound, but his header on the follow-up went away from goal.
Kim Shin Wook had another chance to give the Sailors the advantage on the 85th minute mark, but his volleyed effort from a superb Lestienne cross from outside the box was straight in the palms of goalkeeper Cao Z.H.
That was the last big moment for the reigning SPL champions to break the deadlock as the players collapsed to the ground in disappointment at the full-time whistle.
No way through for Pedro Henrique against Shandong Taishan in the AFC Champions League. PHOTO: LION CITY SAILORS
Sailors manager Kim Do-Hoon said after the game: “The ball is round. It is a very expensive lesson we learnt tonight but we need to develop and there is still a long way to go.
“We did not play well today. I want to apologise to our fans, we need to do better ourselves. It did not seem like the players were ready to play today. They were poor today and we have to accept the result. We need to shake up and start again from zero. I hope this can help us stay focused for future matches.”
Captain Hariss Harun added: “We know it was two points lost today. I think we were a bit heavy today (three games in six days) but that is no excuse for our performance. We have to try to pick ourselves up and improve for the next games - through set plays and moving the ball quicker from side to side to create space in between (the lines).”
The Sailors will have the opportunity to make amends when they face Shandong again on Sunday (April 24) in the reverse fixture, before playing Urawa Red Diamonds next Wednesday (April 27) on Matchday 5 and finishing off the group stage with a potential crunch clash against Daegu next Saturday (April 30).