Hougang blow lead, suffer red card in S.League draw with Geylang

Ten-man Hougang United extended their undefeated streak in the S.League to three matches on Saturday evening after playing out a 1-1 draw with Geylang International at Jalan Besar Stadium.

But they will look back on regret on a second-half red card to defender Delwinder Singh that allowed their opponents back into the match.

The Cheetahs seemed set to hold on to their lead, which was handed to them by playmaker Azhar Sairudin after just five minutes

However, after Hougang's Delwinder was sent off for a foul inside the box, Geylang responded with a 65th-minute equaliser from Ricardo Sendra to earn a point, and snap a two-game losing run.

The result sees Hougang remain fifth on the table and four points away from the top four, while their opponents are two points and one place below.

In a keenly-contested clash against two teams who entered 2017 with high expectations, it was the designated visitors who drew first blood early on.

Fabian Kwok played a key role in the opener as he fended off a couple of challenges in the middle of the park before releasing Azhar, who made no mistake in finishing past Syazwan Buhari.

The Eagles had a decent chance to level the scores in the 25th minute when Sendra was picked out by Amy Recha inside the box, but he was just unable to beat Khairulhin Khalid.

Hougang also showed initiative in finding a second goal. Fumiya Kogure and Antoine Viterale were both wasteful, with the former spurning a glorious chance after good work by Delwinder Singh.

The Cheetahs thought they had doubled their lead four minutes after the restart when Kwok's inch-perfect cross was headed home by Viterale, only for them to be denied by the assistant referee's flag for offside.

Then, Geylang looked destined to equalise in the 54th minute when they were awarded a penalty. Yuki Ichikawa was brought down inside the box by Delwinder, who was also sent off in the process.

Nonetheless, Victor Coto slipped at the crucial moment and ended up firing high and wide, instead of converting from the spot.

But, there was to be no denying the Eagles five minutes after the hour mark. Tt was Sendra who emerged as the hero, meeting Faritz Hameed's brilliant delivery and sending his header into the back of the net.

As the game entered its closing stages, it looked increasingly likely that a draw was on the cards, although Geylang did have one final chance to snatch all three points.

Yet, it was not to be their day as Stanely Ng could only look on in despair as his long-range strike in the 90th minute crashed off the bar, leaving the sides having to settle for a share of the spoils.

Geylang International: Syazwan Buhari, Faritz Hameed, Yuki Ichikawa, Al-Qaasimy Rahman, Stanely Ng, Isa Halim, Nor Azli Yusoff (Gabriel Quak 46'), Safirul Sulaiman, Ricardo Sendra, Amy Recha (Ifwat Ismail 85'), Victor Coto (Shahfiq Ghani 63')

Hougang United: Khairulhin Khalid, Delwinder Singh, Lionel Tan, Atsushi Shirota, Ali Hudzaifi, Fabian Kwok, Zulfahmi Arifin, Azhar Sairudin (Syahiran Miswan 80'), Fumiya Kogure, Amir Zailani (Faiz Salleh 58'), Antoine Viterale (Afiq Noor 69')