Lion City Sailors hold Japan's Sanfrecce to draw, progress to AFC Champions League Two semis

SINGAPORE: The Lion City Sailors continued their remarkable voyage into uncharted territory on Wednesday (Mar 12) after reaching the Asian Football Confederation Champions League Two (ACL2) semi-finals.

The Singapore side registered a 1-1 draw with Sanfrecce Hiroshima at the Jalan Besar Stadium in the second leg of the quarter-finals to win 4-1 on aggregate.

The Sailors will next face either Sydney FC or South Korean side Jeonbuk FC. The Australian side have a 2-0 lead going into the second leg.

"I'm very proud of my boys, the way they played, playing against this kind of opponent," said Sailors coach Aleksandar Rankovic.

"It's not only our club, we represent the country."

All seemed lost for the Sailors after they lost the first leg of the quarter-finals 6-1 last week. But the result was later chalked off and they were awarded a 3-0 win by the Asian footballing body, as Sanfreece had fielded a player who was supposed to be serving a three-match suspension. 

The player, French forward Valere Germain, came on as a substitute to score Sanfreecce's fifth goal in the match.

On Wednesday, things threatened to unravel early on as the Sailors suffered an early blow in the 14th minute when the mecurial Maxime Lestienne was stretchered off.

However, the home side looked hungry, and they created the first clear-cut chance of the game, only for Lennart Thy to head over after a good cross from the left.

But Thy would make no mistake in the 20th minute, cushioning an excellent pass from substitute Shawal Anuar and arrowing a shot into the bottom corner.

While Sailors’ custodian Izwan Mahmud was largely untroubled early on, he was called into action midway through the first half and responded with a smart save from a Shuto Nakano effort.

The away side would restore parity in the 35th minute though, as Yotaro Nakajima bent a superb freekick into the bottom corner with Izwan stranded.

And while the Japanese side threatened, a combination of solid defending and wayward finishing kept them at bay.

They almost got their second just three minutes into the second half but Satoshi Tanaka's shot clipped the post.

There was drama in the 51st minute as the away side were reduced to 10 men after Ryo Germain was sent off for what looked like an elbow.

And while the away side attempted to make inroads, the Sailors saw off the game, notching a result that sent the majority of the 4,193-strong crowd into delirium.

Speaking to reporters, Sanfrecce head coach Michael Skibbe bemoaned the outcome of the first leg, noting the "fault" of the club's "management".

"(They had) some very fast attackers, very good on the counter-attack, and because of that they scored the goal," he said of the Sailors.

"It is very difficult (after going down to 10 men) because the opponent had very strong defenders and they were standing very deep inside their own half."

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 as, in the 2018 edition of the AFC Cup.

The Sailors booked their spot in the round of 16 this season after topping Group F, ahead of Thai side Port FC, China's Zhejiang FC and Indonesia's Persib Bandung.

In the round of 16, they beat Thailand’s Muangthong United 7-2 on aggregate.

"We have to learn to crawl before we learn to walk, and then we learn to run," said Rankovic when asked about whether making the final of the tournament is a realistic dream.

"Don't jump so far ahead, we go step by step."