Singapore Vs Lebanon

A number of stunning saves from Lions custodian Hassan Sunny kept the home side in the game, while Singapore also had a couple of chances they failed to captalise on.

With the Lions starting the game well and matching up in first ten minutes with a team ranked 73 places ahead of them, it was a promising beginning for V. Sundramoorthy's men.

Nader Matar slipped a pass through to the onrushing Ali Hamam as the Lebanese captain slotted it past Hassan Sunny

But, the away side struck in the 18th minute when Nader Matar slipped a pass through to the onrushing Ali Hamam and the Lebanese captain slotted it past Hassan Sunny with a calm finish.

However, after the Lebanese goal, Sundram's men were overrun in midfield and did not offer much going forward.

Safuwan Baharudin had the best chance to equalise in the first half, but with only the keeper to beat from just inside the penalty box, his shot was just off the mark after a cut-back from the lively Shawal Anuar.

Excellent saves from Home United goalkeeper Hassan Sunny kept the visitors at bay, with back-to-back stops from Rabih Ataya and Kassem El Zein on the stroke of half-time keeping Singapore in the game.

The 33-year-old once again held his own in the 52nd minute against Nader Matar after a one-on-one situation.

With introductions of Irfan Fandi, M. Anumathan and Nazrul Nazari amongst others, the Lions managed to get forward a little bit more in the second half but the Lebanese defence stifled the Singapore attack.

The closest the home side came to scoring was a Shahdan Sulaiman shot in the 65 minute, but the effort flew wide of the post

The closest the home side came to scoring was a Shahdan Sulaiman shot in the 65 minute, but the effort flew wide of the post.

Despite the defeat, there were positives to take for Lions coach Sundram. “We are playing strong teams. They boys are motivated and putting themselves around. They are improving and I think Bahrain will be strong test," he said.

Lebanon coach Miodrag Radulović said that he was impressed particularly by Safuwan and Hassan.

"They (Singapore) very good tactically, they have very good transitions," said the Lebanon tactician. "They should play 100% to get the wins. Tactically a good team and they have a very good keeper. Even striker has big potential, Safuwan.”

Singapore play Bahrain next in a crucial Asian Cup qualifier match next Tuesday at the National Stadium.

“Lebanon is much stronger than Bahrain, we can limit them to one goal, against Bahrain we should be more positive and move to battle for points," noted Sundram. "Points are at stake against Bahrain and boys understand that and will play for those points.”

The Lions are currently bottom of their Asian Cup qualification group and they not just need to win their final two Group E matches, but also need other results to go their way to qualify for the 2019 Asian Cup.

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