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Hougang suffer third 0-2 loss in a row as Albirex soar to top of league

SINGAPORE - The pressure is on for Hougang United and their head coach Philippe Aw after the Cheetahs fell 0-2 to Albirex Niigata in a Great Eastern-Hyundai S.League clash at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Friday night (April 14).

Albirex players celebrating Tsubasa Sano's goal. The Japanese striker scored twice against Hougang United. Photo: S.League

Albirex players celebrating Tsubasa Sano's goal. The Japanese striker scored twice against Hougang United. Photo: S.League

SINGAPORE - The pressure is on for Hougang United and their head coach Philippe Aw after the Cheetahs fell 0-2 to Albirex Niigata in a Great Eastern-Hyundai S.League clash at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Friday night (April 14).

The defeat was Hougang's third  in a row after similar 2-0 losses to Brunei DPMM and Home United.

The Cheetahs’ defence was an organised unit in the first half but were undone in the second by Albirex's in-form Tsubasa Sano from Shuto Inaba’s cross. Sano was at it again in the 88th minute, connecting with Hiroyoshi Kamata’s low cross, adding to his goal tally that sees him with six goals in five games.

Apart from those two strikes, scoring chances were generally few in this game with Hougang hardly testing Albirex goalkeeper Yosuke Nozawa for the entire game. Meanwhile Cheetahs keeper Khairulhin Khalid was the busier of the two custodians as he parried away shots from Sano and Inaba in the first half.

The Cheetahsare clearly not living up to pre-season expectations as they are already seven points behind the leaders with only two wins and four losses. To add to their woes, 32-year-old Spanish forward Pablo Aracil has yet to break his duck.

However, Aw feels that his sixth-placed team in the table need more time.

 “After the international break, we knew it was not going to be easy with these three tough games. Out of nine points, we got zero and that is really disappointing.” said the former Home United coach.

“Yes, there was a lot of hype about Hougang United at the start of the season because we were changing things on and off the field but as you can see, it doesn’t mean that signing players means making the team strong.

“Four months to make a solid team is not going to be easy. A team has to be together. Every single season, you can’t just change players. Going forward, we cannot continue to change the team every year.”

On his misfiring foreign striker, he added: “Pablo is struggling to adapt to how we play football.

"In training now, we're coaching him on how to make the right runs and be involved in the link up play. We expect a lot more, especially when you are a foreign signing.”

Defending champions Albirex, on the other hand, continue to impress. The Japanese side sit top of the table with four wins and a draw. However, not for the first time after a victory this season Yoshinaga Kazuaki decalred that he wants more from his players.

“I think that the players still can play better," he said. "They have not reached the levels I want yet and I think they can play better than today. Our players have not really performed to what they are capable of.

However, with a slight smile, he added:  “But having said that, the players of course tried very hard today!”

Albirex will play in-form Balestier Khalsa on Apr 21 at the Jalan Besar Stadium while the Cheetahs will host Balestier on Apr 27 at the Hougang Stadium after a two-week break.

 

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