Lion City Sailors clinch historic ACL win after defeating K-League’s Daegu in group stage clash
The win marks the Sailor’s first victory in the prestigious competition and the first time a Singaporean club has defeated a Korean opposition.
The Lion City Sailors clinched their first ever victory in the Asian Champions League (ACL) on Monday (Apr 18) evening, after defeating K-League side Daegu in a convincing 3-0 group stage win.
Goals from Song Ui-young, Diego Lopes and Pedro Henrique sealed the win for the Singapore Premier League (SPL) leaders at the Buriram City Stadium in Thailand.
The Sailor’s victory marked a couple of milestones: It was the first time a Singaporean club has defeated a South Korean opposition, as well as score three goals in an ACL match.
Goalkeeper Hassan Sunny also became the second Singaporean to keep a clean sheet in the tournament, after Shahril Jantan did so in 2010 while representing Singapore Armed Forces Football Club (SAFFC, now known as Warriors FC).
Prior to the match, LCS’ head coach Kim Do-hoon called for his players to remain positive. The Sailors had lost 1-4 to J-League side Urawa Red Diamonds in the previous match.
With their win against Daegu, the Sailors now sit at second place in the Group F table with three points from two games.
The Singaporean side will next face Shandong Taishan on Thursday (Apr 21), the third of six matches the team will play in the group stages of the tournament.
