Airul leads City to an astonishing win over Titans
Tampines, Singapore
Chestercity started the match against Silver Titans with top scorer Airul missing from the starting line-up due to traffic congestion..
City started with Safiuddin in goal. Rohaizad was at right back, Stanton partners Hafiz in central defence and Xavier good form saw him placed as a makeshift left back. Tam back from his wedding ceremony playing in the 3 central midfield position with Faizal and match captain, Zaini. Izzat in attacking mid behind Aizam with Bazil taking the place of Airul. Referee Ismail takes charge of this game.
City started off strongly and within 5 minutes, the newlywed Tam found the net. A backpass to Titans defender was chased down by Aizam and the custodian’s clearance only found the feet of Tam who then shoots to put City in the lead. 1-0. Titans did not back down, After string of offside, they finally breaks the offside trap but was denied by an excellent save by Safiuddin. Then Titans equalized, they break City’s offside trap again and the striker toe pokes a shot past Safiuddin which bounce off the post to make it 1-1 in the 15min.
2 mins later, Aizam shows why he was the man of the match for 2 two weeks straight. And with the absence of his strike partner, Aizam received a pass from Xavier on the left wing and picks his spot at the bottom corner leaving Titans goalkeeper no chance. 2-1 to City. Aizam then was on it again, after a good work from captain Zaini, Aizam found himself in the similar position where he scores his first goal. This time he whipped in a curling shot which rattles the crossbar and to Titan’s relieve. City began dominating in the attacking half, a good passing game between Aizam and Faizal found Izzat but his shot went inches wide.
Half time score 2-1.
Second half saw changes in the side. Rohaizad was brought off for debutant Hakim, and Airul came on for Bazil and in the 52nd min, Airul shows what City are missing when his header hits the post. It didn’t take Airul long for him to score. 2 mins later, after a good play down the right flank by Izzat, he cross to the in-form stiker who slotted it past the diving keeper to make the scoreline 3-1. The joy was short-lived when Titans scored their second goal of the match a minute later when the striker was left one on one with Safiuddin, and shoot in the rebound after yet another great save by City’s custodian. 3-2 game on. City’s coach then brings on reserve goalkeeper Eizzul for Zaini in the 58th minute and within 7th minute of coming on as a sub, Eizzul’s lob through ball found Airul 1 v 1 with Titans goalie but the striker calmly slot it past the goalkeeper. 4-2 to City. 3 minutes later, Airul completes his hattrick. Debutant Hakim mazy run and through ball found Airul who sidestep 2 defenders and scores to make it 5-2 to City. City then run wild. Izzat again was on fire with his second assist. Down again on the right flank, Izzat whips in a cross and waiting unmarked was Aizam who scores with a diving header. 6-2. City then rested their key players replacing Izzat with Irfan and Faizal with Jelson in the 71st minute. That does not stop Titans. Stanton gave a penalty away with a studs up challenge which Titans converted to cut it back to 6-3. Airul was denied by Titans keeper who parries his shot away for a corner in the 74th minute. Corner to City, Hakim steps over a corner and sends a wonderful in-swinger leaving every single Titan’s player watching in envy. A great debut goal. 7-3. City was not done yet, with 3 mins left on the clock, Airul again shows his masterclass passing a great through ball to Jelson and the defender makes no mistake with a cheeky dip over the onrushing Titans keeper to make the final scoreline 8-3.
City’s coach commented after the game, ”It’s a great performance from the lads, we are currently top of the table with 15 points and that what’s matters. I told the lads before that I have a strong feeling on us winning the championship and we are on the right track. It was a performance I will never forget. It’s one of the best I’ve seen. The guys put extra effort and second half display was excellent. With Hakim getting his debut goal, it shows what a player he is. Airul on the other hand except for the JFC’s game never fails to find the net everytime he plays. Every time he touches the ball, it turns to goal. A lot of improvement was also seen in other players as they’ve showed in recent weeks with goals coming from different deparments. I hope this run will continue till the end of season and with us having a week off, we will be fresher in our next game against Avalache FC. It’s a good early birthday gift for me. I just like to give the lads a pat in the back for this wonderful feast today.”
