Albirex Niigata (S) thrash Geylang to go nine points clear in S.League

Albirex Niigata (S) continued their march towards a second successive S.League title after a 5-0 thrashing of 10-man Geylang International at Jurong East Stadium on Saturday night.

It was the White Swans' 23rd straight win at their home ground as they went nine points clear of nearest challengers Tampines Rovers, having played two games more.

Geylang had lost just one out of their last eight games in regulation time under Noor Ali. But the form book mattered little as they conceded after just six minutes.

After Takuya Akiyama's attempt from Kento Nagasaki's free kick was parried by Syazwan Buhari, Shoichiro Sakamoto was on hand to bury the rebound.

Albirex doubled their lead nine minutes later. Ryuya Motoda fired home a powerful left-footed finish after Yuki Ichikawa's headed clearance fell into his path inside the box.

The game was all but over by the half-hour mark, with Nagasaki breaking the Geylang offside trap before slotting past the onrushing Syazwan.

It went from bad to worse for the Eagles as they conceded a fourth unanswered goal, and went a man down on the stroke of half-time.

After Al-Qaasimy Rahman was sent off for a second bookable offence for upending Naofumi Tanaka in the area, Motoda stepped up from 12 yards out for his second of the night.

The rout was complete 13 minutes into the second half. Hot shot Tsubasa Sano broke the offside trap once again to slot beyond the hapless Syazwan for their fifth and final goal of the night.

Geylang did create a few opportunities, but could not find a way past the experienced Albirex keeper Yosuke Nozawa.

The result leaves the Eagles in fifth spot, a point above Hougang United, but having played one game more.

Albirex Niigata (S): Yosuke Nozawa (GK), Hiroyoshi Kamata, Yasutaka Yanagi, Takuya Akiyama, Naofumi Tanaka, Shoichiro Sakamoto (Yuuki Yamanouchi 63'), Shuto Inaba (C), Rui Kumada, Ryuya Motoda, Kento Nagasaki (Ryota Nakai 67'), Tsubasa Sano (Koki Sato 76')

Geylang International: Syazwan Buhari (GK), Amy Recha (Asshukrie Wahid 82'), Al-Qaasimy Rahman (C), Yuki Ichikawa, Anders Aplin, Shawal Anuar, Safirul Sulaiman (Justin Sim 89'), Ricardo Sendra, Victor Coto, Shahfiq Ghani (Noor Ariff 46'), Gabriel Quak