Lion City Sailors hammer Muangthong 4-0, cruise into AFC Champions League 2 quarters
The Singapore side won the tie 7-2 after beating the Thai giants away on Feb 13.
The Lion City Sailors celebrate Maxime Lestienne’s opener against Muangthong United on Feb 20, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Matthew Mohan)
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SINGAPORE: Such was the extent of Shawal Anuar's effort against Thai side Muangthong United, that by the end of the Lion City Sailors' post-match press conference on Thursday (Feb 20), he was pulling up with cramp.
The 33-year-old had run his opponents ragged all game long, and helped his side book their spot in the quarter-finals of the Asian Football Confederation Champions League 2 (ACL2).
At the Jalan Besar Stadium, the Sailors were in sensational form from start to finish in a 4-0 victory, with goals from Maxime Lestienne, Bart Ramselaar and a second-half Shawal brace.
This meant that the Singapore side won the tie 7-2, after beating the Thai giants away 3-2 on Feb 13.
The Sailors will next face Japanese top-tier side Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Sanfrecce, who were runners-up in the J1 League last season, hammered Vietnamese side Nam Dinh 7-0 over two legs to progress.
They are the only Southeast Asian side left in the tournament.
"If you look at the two matches that we played against them, we are probably the ones who deserved to go through," said Sailors coach Aleksandar Rankovic.
"In the first match, we were also playing very (well) except for the red card. Today I think there is no doubt who should go through."
Despite missing the suspended Song Ui-young, who was sent off in the first leg, the home team were off to a flying start after Shawal was hacked down in the box by Muangthong goalkeeper Kittipong Phuthawchueak with less than a minute played.
The mercurial Lestienne coolly tucked home from the spot to send the crowd of 2,749 into raptures.
The Sailors continued to dominate play, with Lestienne pulling the strings in the middle of the park.
In the dying embers of the first half, the Belgian played a delightful through ball to Shawal. The pacy forward prodded the ball past the goalkeeper to a sliding Ramselaar to net the second goal of the game.
In the second 45 minutes, Muangthong poured forward as they looked to unlock a stubborn Sailors defence.
But they found themselves 3-0 behind in the 63rd minute as the impressive Shawal lobbed the Muangthong goalkeeper after being played through from a Hariss Harun pass.
As frustration began to grow in the Muangthong ranks, Rankovic's men capped off a sensational performance, with Shawal netting his second in the 88th minute.
"I'm proud ... to get to contribute to the team," said the Singapore international. "But overall, I think the team ... worked together and that's why we got the result tonight."
Previously known as the AFC Cup, the ACL2 is the second-tier Asian club football tournament with a revamped format.
The last time a Singapore side reached the knockout stages of an AFC club competition was Home United, as the Sailors were previously known, in the 2018 edition of the AFC Cup.
The Sailors booked their spot in the round of 16 after topping Group F, ahead of Thai side Port FC, China's Zhejiang FC and Indonesia's Persib Bandung.
