10-man Eagles suffer home defeat against the Cheetahs

Geylang International’s three-game unbeaten run came to a halt when they suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Hougang United at Our Tampines Hub on Wednesday.

Noor Ali’s charges were looking for their third win in four matches against the struggling Cheetahs, who lost all their four previous starts but found themselves facing an uphill battle after being reduced to 10 men at halftime.

During stoppage time, Danish picked up a second yellow card for a reckless challenge on Dorde Maksimovic just outside the box.

Hougang took full advantage of the incident to secure their opening goal through Kristijan Krajcek with a powerful free-kick that proved too powerful for goalkeeper Hafiz Ahmad to stop.

This proved to be the turning point of the game, as the Eagles had shown themselves to be the more threatening side, only to be thwarted on two occasions by the brilliance of former Geylang International skipper, Zaiful Nizam.

Zaiful initially made a fantastic save to deny Ahmad Syahir’s close-range strike in the 29th minute, but his finest moment came in the first minute of injury time when he tipped away Gareth Low’s spectacular first-time volley.

Despite being at a numerical disadvantage, Geylang International displayed a resolute defence and made several forward pushes in their quest to secure an equaliser.

It wasn’t until the 86th minute that the Cheetahs managed to score again and firmly secure their victory when an unmarked Gabriel Quak curled a shot past Hafiz.

A dejected Noor Ali remarked, “Of course, after the red card, it became a bit difficult for us, especially considering our limited options on the bench.”

“I can’t fault the boys; they truly worked hard and pushed Hougang all the way until the 86th minute before conceding their second goal.”

“I don’t believe Hougang posed a significant threat to us. It was the individual brilliance of players like Kiki (Krajcek) and Gabriel that made the difference.”

“In the first half, we created numerous chances, but Zaiful came to their rescue. That’s football for you—when you don’t convert your opportunities, especially when down to 10 men, the challenge becomes tougher.”

“The boys gave it their all, maintaining possession even when playing with 10 men, and we made attempts to break through their defence.”

“However, when you’re constantly forced to defend, fatigue inevitably sets in, resulting in tired legs.”

Ends.