Lion City Sailors put on five star showing for third victory in eight days

SINGAPORE – The games are coming thick and fast for the Lion City Sailors, but the buoyant Singapore Premier League (SPL) leaders are showing no signs of slowing down.

On Feb 23 at the Bishan Stadium, the Sailors extended their winning streak in the league to six matches with a 5-1 demolition of 10-man Balestier Khalsa to maintain a six-point lead at the top of the table.

It was their third victory in eight days, after they beat Tanjong Pagar 4-1 in the Singapore Cup group phase on Feb 16 and thrashed Muangthong United 4-0 on Feb 20 to progress 7-2 on aggregate to the quarter-finals of the Asian Champions League Two.

Such are the high spirits within the camp that four-goal hero Lennart Thy said there has been no talk of fatigue, despite the fact that the Sailors are fighting on three fronts.

He said: “We’re not thinking about that. Fatigue, I don’t know who’s talking about it, but within the team, it is a non-topic. We have a big squad... we can make changes during the game, give some players a rest... so far, we’re doing good.

“We want to keep this up... we are pushing each other and that’s important.”

The Sailors – champions in 2021 – are gunning for just their second SPL title since becoming the league’s first privatised club in 2020.

Coming into the encounter on the back of the morale-boosting win over Thai side Muangthong, the Sailors could have been forgiven for taking their foot off the pedal against Balestier.

And while they made five changes from three days ago – resting two-goal hero Shawal Anuar, attacking midfielder Bart Ramselaar and captain Hariss Harun – the Sailors were still far superior to their opponents.

Sailors coach Aleksandar Rankovic was pleased with yet another