The Lion City Sailors picked up their first Singapore Cup championship trophy after defeating Hougang United 3-1 at the Jalan Besar Stadium on 9 December.
Goals courtesy of Richairo Zivkovic, an own goal by Naoki Kuriyama off a Maxime Lestienne shot and an icing on the cake for substitute Shawal Anuar were enough for the Sailors, who ended up as runners up behind Albirex Niigata in the 2023 Singapore Premier League.
Hougang’s Kazuma Takayama pulled one back for the Cheetahs at the death to save some face for the 2022 Cup winners.
The Sailors last won a title back in 2021 when they finished the league as supreme leaders.
It was their first appearance in the Singapore Cup final since being privatised in 2020, given that two editions the tournament in 2020 and 2021 were sidelined due to the pandemic.
It was unlucky for Hougang United as they were hard done by a dubious penalty decision in the 25th minute, after Kuriyama was adjudged to have handled in the box.
The penalty decision by Andrea Verolino after consulting the video assistant referees did not go down too well with the Cheetah fans, but that marked the beginning of the end for the defending 2022 Cup Champions.
Hougang’s journey to the final was commendable, given that they did not have a sterling run in the league, finishing sixth of nine.
But Marko Kraljevic did enough to take his charges back to the Cup final, and into the Asian competitions again for the 2024/2025 season, despite missing a host of players like Richard Krajicek and Gabriel Quak.
All said and done, the sight of a completely bare East spectators stands on broadcast was not exactly the best advertisement for a Singapore Cup final, a point which will need addressing, still.
If there is difficulty in filling up a 6,000-seater stadium on a Cup final night on a Saturday, there is just cause for concern.
Separately, Tampines Rovers ended the 2023 Singapore Cup in third place after a 2-0 win of Brunei DPMM.
MAIN PHOTO: LION CITY SAILORS