SINGAPORE (4 June 2018) – Captain Wataru Murofushi led the way with a brace as Albirex strolled to their 32nd straight home win with a 5-0 defeat of ten-man Brunei DPMM at the Jurong East Stadium.
“Although we won 5-0 on the night, I was not happy with some of the mistakes that the players made. It was just lucky that those shots we took went in as on another day, we may not be so lucky. There are some mistakes that I am not very happy with. I devise the strategies for this team, and I have an idea how to stop my own team,” said Albirex Head Coach Kazuaki Yoshinaga.
“I would like to correct some misconceptions. Opponents always say we have 25 players, but we have 21 and 19 are Japanese with two Singaporeans. With 21 players, we are unable to play 11 versus 11 during training. This year, we also cut back a lot of friendly matches but we do not have enough substitute players … it has been a handicap for us this year.”
Just nine minutes in, Taku Morinaga broke the deadlock off a low cross from Ryujiro Yamanaka as Shuhei Hoshino then slot into the bottom right on 36 minutes.
Captain Murofushi then nailed the first of his two goals with a wonderful solo effort five minutes before the end of the first half.
Ryuji Yamanaka then capitalised on the loss of DPMM keeper Haimie Nyaring in the 74th minute to score his first and Albirex’s fourth goal just five minutes later.
Murofushi then got his second of the night with the last kick of the game.
“We have played eight games in the league, and six are away – this is not something that happens normally. It’s true that we have given up too much goals in the beginning … I think maybe we have no concentration in the beginning. I have to point out that Albirex have better fitness – they have mostly foreign players, and they are some steps further ahead than other team in the competition,” said DPMM Head Coach Rene Weber.
SINGAPORE PREMIER LEAGUE 2018 Current Standings
| No | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Albirex Niigata | 11 | 11 | 0 | 0 | 36 | 7 | +29 | 33 |
| 2 | Tampines Rovers | 9 | 6 | 1 | 2 | 21 | 9 | +12 | 19 |
| 3 | Balestier Khalsa | 11 | 4 | 1 | 6 | 12 | 19 | −7 | 13 |
| 4 | Young Lions | 10 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 11 | 17 | −6 | 12 |
| 5 | Home United | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 20 | 21 | −1 | 11 |
| 6 | DPMM FC | 8 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 14 | 17 | −3 | 11 |
| 7 | Geylang International | 11 | 3 | 2 | 6 | 13 | 23 | −10 | 11 |
| 8 | Warriors FC | 11 | 1 | 6 | 4 | 12 | 15 | −3 | 9 |
| 9 | Hougang United | 9 | 0 | 3 | 6 | 7 | 19 | −12 | 3 |
