Man of Match (Selected By Opponent)
Man of Match (Selected By Opponent)
Team Report
before the game,lions heart team sends out a strong message to atlas captain that he will be marj
ked tight. yayan never fails to score against them.atlas started the first half too nervous as the conceded an early soft goal. captain azlan then continued lion heart voodoo as he once again scored against them to equalise. second half was close fight but lion heart took the lead again though atlas fc appeals for off side.atals fired frm all angles but fail to find the net and was punished by a final goal that put the nail in the coffin. azlan haunts lion heart again this season and vows for revenge in the return leg.
Team Report
The Lions were looking forward to extend their good start to the season with another win, and win they did. The team completely rejuvenated during the off-season, opting to sit out of the X-Cup to focus on player recruitment, funding and centralised training paid handsome dividends.
Most of the First XI were from last season, with the inclusion of several new faces to the team, such as former S.League player Brandon Lim and midfield spark Joseph Tang.
They're now playing as a team, and the casual observer can see it with the players communicating to each other and raising hunger levels as they set out to prove their worth.
Within only the first 3 minutes of play, the Lions mounted their first attack. Joseph sensing a chance but missed, however the evergreen Brandon cleaning up with an easy goal. The Lions went up 1-0 easing the nerves and controlling play for the rest of the game as Brandon picked up his first league goal at senior level for the Lions.
In the same fixture last season, the Lions (then known as Heart Sparks) were always on the backfoot and would have lost to Atlas in the last quarter of the pitch. But this season, they played quick and aggressive attacking football with chance after chance when they saw goal.
They tried to extend the lead, Brandon getting the ball from the center and feeding a sweet ball to the left to Wan Neymar with only 2 players beaten. However he did not beat the offside trap. Unfortunately, he earned a silly yellow for shooting after the offside call was made.
Brandon's arrival proved to be beneficial to the team as he tore Atlas defense apart, pulling players away for the midfield to score. Joseph again, feeding the ball to Malik, who skipped past 3 Atlas defenders before the former Woodland Wellington youth player shot over.
The game was passionate with fouls all over. The Lions earning free kicks in the 3rd half of the pitch. At the 35th minute, the Lions had a free kick 20 yards out. Wan Neymar and Malik stood over the ball. Wan Neymar, a left footer attempted to take the chance and dummied, and then Malik shooting and curling it over.
The score remained one-nil at the break with 4 changes being made as Qamarul Asyraf earns his first senior cap coming in for the effective Alfian Ramdan, slotting in the defensive midfield role, a position unfamiliar to him.
Ipin out Acap in
Wan Neymar out Bazil in
Adi out Qamarul in
Hafiz out Haikal in
Fresh from the team talk, the Lions scored again just as fast as the 1st half. Malik this time playing on the left, let fly a long cross into the box and Joseph ghosting past the entire defence giving him a 1-on-1 with the Atlas keeper and coolly striking into the bottom right earning his first goal for Lionheart FC.
The Lions felt confident as most of the Atlas players looking solemn. Their captain willing them on by making them think it's still 0-0. But Atlas still failed to calm their nerves.
Qamarul managing to win a corner as a long ball was received, triggering a cross but put out by the Atlas defenders. The resulting corner almost ended up in goal but saved off the line.
But a lapse of concentration in defence allowed Atlas the confidence they need to come back. A through ball fed to their #23 failed to be managed as their forward raced against the Lion's defence and shot low to beat Haikal to reduce the deficit to 1-2.
The game then picked up intensity as Atlas tried to search for the equaliser and the defence given a tougher test as shots were made to bring parity to the game. The Lions had luck on their side, as several shots were near misses.
But knowing that a 1-goal lead was not enough, the Lions took advantage of the gaps in defence as Atlas tried to push up. Atlas forced to backpedal and conceded unnecessary fouls.
Lionhearts trying to finish the game off with shots from open play and set pieces but to no avail.
The nervy Qamarul Asyraf was later replaced by Haidar as Coach Bai saw that his mistakes could cost the team the win. Haidar's re-entry gave the midfield back its dominance in the middle of the park and Atlas defence came back under pressure.
Another free kick created by Jo as a high boot got him, this time Neymar doing the honours from 25 yards but wasting it straight at the keeper.
Creator turned striker at 65 mins as Jo took the free kick from 30 yards at the 65 minute. His looping cross beat the whole Atlas defence and our strikers.
Malik got the killer goal in the last 5 mins as he took advantage of a loose ball. Malik pounced outside the box, looked up, and let fly into goal.
1-3 at the final whistle, the away team going home happy with another 100% record.
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