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Tigers sink fangs into Kitchee

SINGAPORE — Balestier Khalsa continued their unbeaten start in their AFC Cup group stage campaign as midfielder Zulkiffli Hassim’s goal in the 31st minute sealed a hard fought 1-0 win against Hong Kong side Kitchee at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Tuesday evening (March 8).

Balestier Khalsa FC player Zulkiffli Hassim celebrates after scoring against Kitchee in AFC Cup 2016. Photo: Wee Teck Hian/TODAY

Balestier Khalsa FC player Zulkiffli Hassim celebrates after scoring against Kitchee in AFC Cup 2016. Photo: Wee Teck Hian/TODAY

SINGAPORE — Balestier Khalsa continued their unbeaten start in their AFC Cup group stage campaign as midfielder Zulkiffli Hassim’s goal in the 31st minute sealed a hard fought 1-0 win against Hong Kong side Kitchee at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Tuesday evening (March 8).

After a quiet opening 10 minutes, Kitchee almost took the lead in the 11th minute when midfielder Lam Ka Wai fired a dangerous shot towards goal, only to be denied by goalkeeper Zaiful Nizam.

The away side, who parted company with Spanish head coach Abraham Garcia over the weekend and were without their Spanish imports Fernando Reico and Jordi Tarres due to injuries, broke once again in the 15th minute when a cross from the right wing almost fell nicely for Spanish forward Rufino Del Burgo, but defender Emir Lotinac was on hand to make a vital interception.

The Serbian passed a late fitness test on Monday evening to make his first appearance of the season and he starred on the night as he manned the Tigers’ backline to perfection.

With Balestier struggling to retain possession against a side who modelled their style of football on Spanish giants FC Barcelona, Kitchee had yet another golden opportunity to take the lead, but forward Christian Kwesi, unmarked on the left wing, fired agonisingly wide in the 26th minute.

Kwesi was made to rue that chance as Balestier took the lead with their first real opportunity of the match five minutes later.

Serbian forward Mirsolav Kristic released Fadhil Noh on the right flank and the winger picked out Zulkiffli, who finished well to complete a brilliant counter-attacking move.

Having taken the lead, Balestier had a chance to make it 2-0 from the penalty spot when Fadhil played Kristic through on goal with a long ball and he was brought down by Kitchee goalkeeper Wang Zhenpeng in the penalty area.

But Kristic saw his spot-kick well saved by Wang, who dived to his right, much to the dismay of the 1,048-strong crowd.

The Tigers then survived a late onslaught from Kitchee to grab the vital three points.

On Tuesday night’s result means Balestier move to the top of Group F with four points, after Philippine outfit Kaya FC beat Maldivian side New Radiant 1-0 in the night’s other Group F match.

“I didn’t expect to top the table but we worked hard and got the results,” said Balestier coach Marko Kraljevic. “If you asked me before I would have said we could have given a good fight. But to be top of the group...that is surprising.”

Kitchee’s interim coach, Alex Chu, blamed fatigue for his team’s defeat.

“I think my team was tired from playing too many games in the last few days (four games in 10 days). But every player did their best and the match could have gone either way,” he said. “Balestier adopted a defensive approach and played on the counter. We tried to break them down but we couldn’t.”

In Tuesday's other AFC Cup match involving a Singapore team, Tampines Rovers made it two wins out of two in their Group E campaign as they beat Selangor 1-0.

Stags head coach V Sundramoorthy rested British attacking duo Jermaine Pennant and Billy Mehmet, and it was one of their replacements, Fazrul Nawaz, who popped up with the winner in the 27th minute with a neat finish.

The result meant Tampines go top of the group with six points, two ahead of Filipino side Ceres FC who defeated Bangladeshi outfit Sheikh Jamal 2-0.

Selangor are third with one point while Sheikh Jamal are bottom with no points.

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