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Peres stars as Home brushes Dalian aside
Firdaus Khan
info@sleague.com
Peres de Oliveira celebrated his return to Home United with the winning goal which in the 2-1 win over Dalian Shide Siwu at the Bishan Stadium on Thursday.
The ex-Tampines man provided the spark in attack and scored off a stunning free kick in the 40th minute.
Dalian put up a valiant effort and brought impressed the 2, 464 strong crowd with their technical brand of football but the Chinese side were let down by their lack of potency in front of goal.
But it was the visitors who came up with the match’s first real chance.
An in swinging corner in the 20th minute found it way to Wang Liang, whose quick feint fooled two Home defenders but he delayed his shot and the subsequent attempted was charged away.
Just four minutes later, Home United broke the deadlock thanks to a superb solo effort by Kengne Ludovick.
With his back towards goal, Ludovick shielded the ball from his marker Jiang Jihong before turning the latter and dispatched the ball into the bottom corner.
Home United then pushed on in search of the second goal and Dalian seized the chance by going on the counter attack.
A superb break from the visitor’s own half led to the equaliser.
Wang Liang was again asking questions of the defence as he intercepted the ball from the middle of the park before running straight for goal. He dribbled past three Home players before laying it off in to the area where Quan Heng was already waiting. Tracking back, Peres had no choice but to foul him.
Wang stepped up and coolly stroked his spot kick past Lionel Lewis.
Peres then made amends before the end of the first half with a well-struck free kick.
Shahril Ishak’s dummy run seemed to distract the Dalian players in the wall and that gave Peres enough of a sight of goal to arrow the ball past Wang Guoming.
Two minutes before the hour mark, a Shi Jiayi corner was nodded on by new signing Valery Hiek but Zheng Jianfeng bravely cleared the ball away before the onlurking Ludovick could pounce.
Peres used his strength to get pass the defenders shortly after and with no room to move, he saw Farhan Farook’s run and squared the ball to the former Sengkang Punggol forward but the latter ballooned his attempt over the bar with only the Dalian custodian to beat.
That was Farhan’s last involvement in the game as he was substituted three minutes later by young Naruphol Ar-Romsawa.
The 20-year-old provided more attacking options and pressure as he was a constant menace at the left flank.
Dalian’s right back, Zheng, found him too hot to handle after having quite a good game by keeping Shahril quiet and at bay on the left wing.
With Naruphol now on the left, Shahril Ishak was given more freedom and license to roam in the middle and he made use of it with nine minutes left on the clock.
Shahril Ishak played a neat one-two with Peres and he was through but his low shot was palmed away by goalkeeper Wang Guoming.
In spite of Home’s superiority, Dalian did get the odd chance to scare the defence. The Chinese players patrolling the wings have been playing very well all night but the lack of support resulted in foiled attempts and loose passes.
Li Zhichao, who came off the bench at half time, did try to make a name for himself when a lobbed ball caught the Home backline static but his first touch was heavy and captain Subramani was able to steal the ball off him and clear.
With only four minutes to go, Home piled on the pressure to effectively kill the game with a third goal.
Juma’at Jantan made a high-speed run down the left side before passing it to Ludovick who unselfishly taps in to the path of Shahril Ishak. However, Shahril Ishak was just unable to get his shot right as the ball got stuck under his foot and by the time he pulled the trigger, Wang was on hand to parry the danger away.
Any hopes of a Dalian revival were dashed in the 88th minute when midfielder Quan was given his marching orders for a cynical lunge on Ludovick.
With an extra man advantage, Home did try to increase the lead but Jiayi’s shot went straight into the side netting after being given space by Shahril Ishak. The shot was ultimately the last kick of the game as the referee blew the final whistle on the match.
Though the match ended in a loss, Dalian Shide’s coach Pei Yongjiu preferred to take the positives out of the game.
“I am very satisfied with my team seeing that they are young and it is our first game and with a strong opposition like Home United who possess talented players,” he said.
“From this game, we can really feel and see how strong the S. League is and we do have to brush up our defence to compete with the rest of the teams in the league.”
Peres’ impressive performance also drew plaudits from both coaches.
Pei was very impressed with his performance and Home United coach, P N Sivaji had more words of praises for his player.
“Peres did very well in the game. He was mobile and he scored a good free kick and it shows he can be both a scorer and a provider,” said the Protectors’ coach.
Although his side did just enough for the win and were not really convincing throughout, Sivaji was pretty pleased with the end result.
Sivaji said: “We got the important three points and it was a fantastic win but we made it a little difficult for ourselves as we didn’t take our chances when the opportunity arises but no doubt Dalian is a good team.”
“From here on out, it is only going to get tougher but I’m sure with more matches, we can get better.”
Home United will face a more intimidating task next week when they take on title contenders Tampines Rovers away while Dalian will meet a resurgent Super Reds at Queenstown Stadium.
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