Adrian Chan
info@sleague.com

Defensive lapses with the toll of silly goals conceded were once again the bane for Singapore, but thankfully for Lions coach Radojko Avramovic there were positives alongside the negatives as his side were edged 2-1 by the UAE on Friday night.

While the Jalan Besar crowd watched in horror as the Lions conceded two soft first half goals in two minutes, a much improved second half allowed the likes of squad players Hasrin Jailani, Masrezwan Masturi and Khairul Amri to shine.

Masrezwan pulled a goal back for Singapore, and the team's toil and commitment were recognised by the 2,809 crowd, who handed the Lions a generous round of applause at the end of the game despite the defeat.

With the World Cup qualifier against India coming up next week, Lions coach Raddy Avramovic used the match as a means to fine-tune his team tactically, as well as give some of his fringe players a test-run.

The same can be said for UAE coach Aad De Mos, whose team will face Thailand in a crucial fixture in Bangkok.

"I changed half the team after our last match (3-1 loss to Yemen) and tonight, I saw what I wanted to see in the players, which is hunger and the will to fight," De Mos commented after the game.

"If my players don’t show fighting spirit, I will not hesitate to leave them out. The first lesson in football is that you have to fight, because if you don’t fight, you might as well not play."

Like his opposite number, Avramovic was not too unhappy with what he got from the match. But he did have this to add: "Our back-four have got to learn how to pass the ball out of defence better. We’re still giving away easy goals, and that has been a problem for us in the last few games."

The second goal scored by the visitors was clearly what Avramovic was referring to, when a stray pass from Baihakki Khaizan out of defence in the 26^th minute was picked up by UAE’s Salem Khamis just outside the box.

With Lions custodian Hassan Sunny caught by surprise and out of position, the striker needed no second invitation to deliver an immaculate chip into the net.

It was a double-blow for Hassan, who had conceded the game’s first goal only a minute earlier, when he allowed Fahed Masoud’s 35m free-kick to beat him low at his near-post.

From a goalkeeping point of view, it was a soft goal to concede. Perhaps it is an aspect of Hassan’s game which needs to be further worked on, for he conceded three similar goals from a similar distance in the 7-0 thrashing by Oman four months ago.

The 20-year-old had looked unbeatable in the opening quarter of the game. First, he came out tops in a one-on-one duel against UAE forward Faisal Khalil, then producing a wonderful double-save, parrying a power-packed shot from Fahed before turning over Shehab Ahmed’s follow-up.

Midfielder Subait Kahter’s wicked free-kick minutes later tested Hassan again, before he finally got beat by Fahed’s dead-ball accuracy. Over at the other end, the Singapore forwards huffed and puffed but found it tough to break down the Emirati defence led by Abdulla Ali Shah, whom De Mos described as "an Italian-styled defender, very difficult to play against".

Missing from the Singapore line-up were defenders Daniel Bennett and S Subramani, plus strikers Indra Sahdan and Noh Alam Shah. It meant that rookie Faizal Hamid got the nod at right-back, while Ashrin Shariff and Masrezwan were paired upfront.

More than once, Masrezwan was bundled over by his physically-superior opponents. But the striker got the reward he deserved for the night’s work, when he pulled one back for the Lions on the hour by hooking a delicate chip beyond UAE keeper Mohammed Abdulla.

The Lions tightened things up after that, and kept mistakes to a minimum, especially in midfield.

Substitutes Hasrin and Ishak Zainol did their Tiger Cup chances no harm by neutralising the bustling Emirates midfield trio of Subait, Shehab and Fahed, as both sides played out the remainder of the match without pushing themselves too much.

What matters most after all, is how well both sides do in their respective matches next Wednesday. As De Mos concluded: "We’re now ready for Thailand. I’m sure Singapore will be ready for India too."

Singapore 1 United Arab Emirates 2 - Match stats here