SINGAPORE (18 June 2012) – Albirex Niigata kept chase at the top of the S-League 2012 when they beat Singapore Armed Forces FC (SAFFC) 4-3 with Atsushi Shimono providing the winner right at the death in the game that was played at the Choa Chu Kang Stadium yesterday.
With the full points, Albirex are now fourth in the standings with 24 points from 13 games played. They are behind current leaders DPMM FC, Tampines Rovers and Home United.
Shuhei Hotta gave Albirex the lead on 24 minute before Shimpei Sakurada replied for SAFFC three minutes later. The score at the end of the first half was 1-1.
Mislav Karoglan then pute SAFFC in front for the first time in the match with a simple tap-in just a minute into the second half only to see it being erased when Norihiro Kawakami headed in the cross from Sato barely a minute later.
The game then picked up pace after that as both teams refused to let their guards down. And just four minutes after the hour mark, Karoglan was again on target with a rifling shot to put SAFFC 3-2 in the advantage.
But SAFFC’s failure to control the game soon after that allowed Albirex the opportunity to push forward and they duly grabbed the equaliser in the 82nd minute through Yasuhiro Yamakoshi‘s drive before stealing the winner deep in injury time.
“SAFFC are a strong team, so beating them will give us a lot of confidence. We hope to play this kind of exciting game every time,” said Koichi Sugiyama, the chief coach of Albirex. “After the first substitution, we played better, but football is a team game, so this win is for all of us. I am very satisfied with the result, though I’m not surprised we managed to come back because I have faith in my players.”
Replied Richard Bok, the coach of SAFFC: “I thought we played well and scored the goals, but we gave sloppy goals at the back. We gave the game away at the end, and we have to defend better than that. We could not close the game out at 3-2, and I think we should have gotten at least a point, if not three points.”
CURRENT S-LEAGUE 2012 STANDINGS
| No | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Brunei DPMM | 13 | 9 | 2 | 2 | 29 | 12 | +17 | 29 |
| 2 | Tampines Rovers | 13 | 8 | 2 | 3 | 25 | 13 | +12 | 26 |
| 3 | Home United | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 26 | 15 | +11 | 24 |
| 4 | Albirex Niigata (S) | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 21 | 16 | +5 | 24 |
| 5 | Balestier Khalsa | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 14 | 10 | +4 | 24 |
| 6 | Harimau Muda | 12 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 21 | 12 | +9 | 23 |
| 7 | Singapore Armed Forces | 13 | 5 | 3 | 5 | 24 | 23 | +1 | 18 |
| 8 | Courts Young Lions | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 18 | 22 | −4 | 14 |
| 9 | Hougang United FC | 14 | 4 | 2 | 8 | 16 | 21 | −5 | 14 |
| 10 | Tanjong Pagar United | 13 | 4 | 1 | 8 | 10 | 25 | −15 | 13 |
| 11 | Gombak United | 12 | 3 | 3 | 6 | 11 | 14 | −3 | 12 |
| 12 | Woodlands Wellington | 13 | 2 | 2 | 9 | 10 | 24 | −14 | 8 |
| 13 | Geylang United FC | 12 | 2 | 2 | 8 | 11 | 29 | −18 | 8 |
