Stoppage time heartbreak as Lion City Sailors fall to Sharjah, miss out on AFC Champions League Two title

SINGAPORE: The Lion City Sailors' fairytale voyage came to a heartbreaking end on Sunday (May 18) after they lost to United Arab Emirates side Sharjah in the AFC Champions League Two (ACL2) final.

A Marcus Meloni goal in the seventh minute of stoppage time was enough to give the away side a 2-1 victory at a packed Bishan Stadium, and dash the Sailors' hopes of being the first local club side to win a continental title.

Firas Ben Larbi had earlier put the Emirati side ahead in the 74th minute before the Sailors' Maxime Lestienne levelled the tie in the first minute of stoppage time.

The Sailors had overcome considerable odds and several top sides, such as Japan's Sanfrecce Hiroshima and Australia's Sydney FC, to reach the final.

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They were crowned Singapore Premier League champions on Saturday and can still complete a domestic double should they lift the Singapore Cup, where they are slated to face Brunei DPMM in the semi-finals.

Sharjah are second in the UAE Pro League. They beat Saudi Pro League side Al-Taawoun 2-1 on aggregate to book their spot in Sunday's decider.

The away side first had the ball in the back of the net after 10 minutes, but Caio Lucas was offside.

The Sailors had their first clear-cut chance minutes later, as a Bart Ramselaar shot was deflected over. A goalmouth melee from the corner resulted in the ball being desperately hacked away.

It was the lively Caio Lucas who was the main threat for Sharjah, and he almost got a shot off minutes later, but Bailey Wright came to the rescue with a superb block.

Sailors full-back Diogo Costa came the closest in the 34th minute, but his effort rattled the post with the Sharjah goalkeeper Adel Al-Hosani beaten.

While the away side were slow to emerge from the dressing room after the interval, they were quicker off the blocks in the second half as Caio Lucas smashed a shot into the side netting in the 52nd minute.

The Sailors were by no means out of this one and were even closer about ten minutes later, but Ramselaar ballooned an effort from close range.

Momentum was now fully with the away side as they dominated possession and put the ball past Izwan for the second time via Ben Arbi, but the offside flag was up.

And they got their reward minutes later as Ben Arbi ghosted in to score and cap off a flowing move.

Despite the setback, the Sailors were not giving up.

As they threw everything forward, they grabbed a stunning equaliser courtesy of Lestienne, who swept home a Diogo Costa cross to send most of the 9,737-strong crowd into raptures.

But just as the Singapore side thought they had dragged the game into extra time, Sharjah's Meloni popped up with the winner to break hearts.

Caio Lucas found him, and he cut inside and curled home to silence most of the stadium – but not the small section of ecstatic away fans.

Speaking to the media after the game, the Sailors' head coach Aleksandar Rankovic praised his side's efforts.

"Our guys did a tremendous job, especially after going 1-0 down," he said. "It was a shame that we (conceded) a very late 2-1 goal, but I have nothing to say except that I am very, very proud of my boys."

Prior to the final, Sharjah had expressed reservations about the decider being hosted at the Jalan Besar Stadium, claiming that it "does not meet the aspirations of the fans and stakeholders".

The 55,000-seater National Stadium was ruled out as a venue as it had been booked well in advance for Lady Gaga's Lion City Mayhem concerts on May 18, 19, 21 and 24.

This meant that the final was played at Bishan Stadium with improvements undertaken, such as the building of three new stands to increase its capacity by more than three times to accommodate about 10,000 spectators.  

The Sailors booked their place in the final after beating Australia's Sydney FC 2-1 over two legs. In the quarters, the Singaporean side beat Sanfrecce Hiroshima 4-1 on aggregate.

All seemed lost for the Sailors after they lost to the Japanese giants in the first leg of the quarter-finals 6-1.

But the result was later chalked off, and they were awarded a 3-0 win by the Asian footballing body, as Sanfrecce had fielded a player who was supposed to be serving a three-match suspension. 

The Sailors then registered a 1-1 draw in the second leg at home.

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 in 2018, when Home United, as the Sailors were previously known, got as far as the inter-zone semi-finals in that year's edition of the AFC Cup.

"The number one lesson is that you should never stop dreaming and believing," Rankovic said of his side, who had been outsiders to make it this far.

"Every game we played in this campaign, we were the underdog ... This year showed me that if you believe it, and, of course, if you have the football players I have, you can go so far."