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.

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