Eagles dealt sucker-punch blow by Young Lions in 2-2 draw

The Eagles were left to wait longer for their second win of the season as they were stunned by a late equaliser by Young Lions right at the death and forced to settle for a 2-2 draw at Our Tampines Hub on Tuesday evening.

With their fourth draw of the season, Geylang International remains in seventh place in the eight-team standing with seven points from 12 games.

Geylang International Head Coach said: “We did not defend well in the last 20 minutes, and we put ourselves under tremendous pressure. We have to learn how to kill off the game. We thought we had the three points in the bag tonight, but unfortunately, things have not gone our way.”

Takahiro Tezuka gave the Eagles the early advantage when he fired them into the lead with a thunderous shot off a free kick after Sime Zuzul was brought down by Syed Akmal outside the box in the 16th minute. 

Not Hakim Ridzuan almost drew the Young Lions level four minutes later but had his shot well saved by Zaiful Nizam.

A well-worked attacking build-up play between Zuzul and Vincent Bezecourt almost saw the Eagles double their advantage, but the Frenchman failed to put his shot past Ridhwan Fikri in the 37th minute.

With five minutes to go before the break, Abdul Akeem thought he had equalised for the Young Lions, but his celebrations were muted when his goal was ruled offside.

Hazzuwan Halim then made an immediate impact after coming on as a substitute for Danish Haziq when he doubled the Eagles’ advantage with a sublime finish off a cross by Zuzul.

Joel Chew had a glorious chance to reduce the deficit for the Young Lions in the 64th minute. But his effort was blocked by Zaiful.

A 79th-minute goal by Danish Qayyum in the 79th minute gave the Young Lions a glimmer of hope as the Eagles were left to defend their one-goal advantage with almost 10 minutes of regulation play left.

Young Lions continued to press hard for the equaliser and were finally rewarded when Syed Akmal slotted the ball home in the near post after they were awarded a corner in the 90th minute.