If we have taken our chances, the result would have been different: Noor

Geylang International head coach Noor Ali believes there were positives to take from his side’s 2-1 defeat at home to Lion City Sailors on Sunday, but stresses his side must make the chances they create count.

While Noor was pleased with the team’s overall performance, he was upset that they failed to convert the opportunities they had to build on Iqbal Hussain’s early lead in the first half of the game.

Iqbal delighted the fans at Our Tampines Hub (OTH) just after 10 minutes into the game when he finished off the brilliant counter-attacking move spearheaded by Yushi Yamaya.

The former Yokohama Marinos man dispossessed M. Anumanthan in the middle of the pitch before delivering a delightful pass to Iqbal, who then coolly beat his two markers before putting the ball past Zharfan Rohaizad.

The Eagles had more chances to increase the advantage, but the team’s failure to convert them into goals proved costly.

Belgian Maxime Lestienne made the difference for the away side as he struck twice in the 69th and 89th minutes through two direct free kicks to deny the Eagles from salvaging at least a draw in their ninth game of the season.

“I wasn’t too disappointed about losing the game, but I was disappointed with the way that we could have killed the game earlier on,” said Noor.

“We had so many chances to wrap up the game in the first half.

“It was as a good second half by both teams and even LCS came out to attack us, I thought we defended very well throughout the whole game.

“But if you don’t score goals, it’s going to be very hard for us in this whole season.

“We need to get there and finish our chances, especially playing against a team like LCS. If you don’t take your chances this is what happened.

“It was a disappointing night for us, we could have gone 2-1, 3-1 ahead. If we have taken our chances, the result would have been different.”

The Eagles will have no time to dwell on their fourth defeat of the season as they will be aiming to bounce back in their next match against Hougang United on Friday.