Eagles denied win at the death

The Eagles were left to split the spoils with Tanjong Pagar United after an 89th minute goal by Naqiuddin Eunos rescued the home side with a 2-2 draw at the Jurong East Stadium on Saturday night.

Akram Azman drew first blood for the Jaguars after he nodded home off Azim Akbar’s cross as early as the 12th minute. However, their advantage was cancelled out by Japanese forward Yushi Yamaya, who struck for the seventh time this season by heading the ball into the net after a pinpoint cross by Arshad Shamim in the 35th minute.

Takahiro Tezuka then put the Eagles ahead with a powerful strike that found the bottom left corner of the net in the 58th minute. It was Tezuka’s first goal of the season and also the first time the Eagles took the lead in the match.

The Eagles seemed poised to bag all three points until Eunos salvaged a point for Tanjong Pagar with his strike from the edge of the box in the dying minutes of the game.

Head Coach Noor Ali said: “I know the hardest part of the game is going to be in the last 20 minutes when your squad is fully stretched. We have too many young players on the bench and even though we were leading, the last quarter was not going to be easy.

“We could not put up a team until yesterday and I have to give credit to the boys for giving their 100% effort.”

Ends.