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SINGAPORE: Lion City Sailors booked their spot in the quarter-finals of the Asian Football Confederation Champions League 2 (ACL2) on Thursday (Feb 20) after an impressive 4-0 home thrashing of Muangthong United.
At the Jalan Besar Stadium, the Sailors were in sensational form from start to finish, and took the win with goals from Maxime Lestienne, Bart Ramselaar and a second-half Shawal Anuar brace.
This meant that the Singapore side won the tie 7-2, after beating the Thai giants away 3-2 on Feb 13.
The Sailors will next face Japanese top-tier side Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Sanfrecce, who were runners-up in the J1 League last season, hammered Vietnamese side Nam Dinh 7-0 over two legs to progress.
The home team were off to a flying start as Shawal Anuar was hacked down in the box by Muangthong goalkeeper Kittipong Phuthawchueak within the first minute of the game.
Up stepped Lestienne to coolly tuck home from the spot and send his side ahead.
The Sailors continued to dominate play, with Lestienne pulling the strings in the middle of the park.
It would be the Belgian who played a delightful through ball to Shawal and the pacy forward passed the ball past the goalkeeper to a sliding Ramselaar in the dying embers of the first half.
Muangthong poured forward as they looked to unlock a stubborn Sailors defence.
But they found themselves 3-0 behind in the 63rd minute as the impressive Shawal lobbed the Muangthong goalkeeper after being played onside.
Aleksandar Rankovic's men capped off a sensational performance as Shawal netted his second in the 88th minute.
The Lion City Sailors' Maxime Lestienne takes on an opponent from Muangthong United. (Photo: CNA/Matthew Mohan)
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, in the 2018 edition of the AFC Cup.
The Sailors booked their spot in the round of 16 after topping Group F, ahead of Thai side Port FC, China's Zhejiang FC and Indonesia's Persib Bandung.
Source: CNA/mt(mi)
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FAST
SINGAPORE: Lion City Sailors booked their spot in the quarter-finals of the Asian Football Confederation Champions League 2 (ACL2) on Thursday (Feb 20) after an impressive 4-0 home thrashing of Muangthong United.
At the Jalan Besar Stadium, the Sailors were in sensational form from start to finish, and took the win with goals from Maxime Lestienne, Bart Ramselaar and a second-half Shawal Anuar brace.
This meant that the Singapore side won the tie 7-2, after beating the Thai giants away 3-2 on Feb 13.
The Sailors will next face Japanese top-tier side Sanfrecce Hiroshima. Sanfrecce, who were runners-up in the J1 League last season, hammered Vietnamese side Nam Dinh 7-0 over two legs to progress.
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The home team were off to a flying start as Shawal Anuar was hacked down in the box by Muangthong goalkeeper Kittipong Phuthawchueak within the first minute of the game.
Up stepped Lestienne to coolly tuck home from the spot and send his side ahead.
The Sailors continued to dominate play, with Lestienne pulling the strings in the middle of the park.
It would be the Belgian who played a delightful through ball to Shawal and the pacy forward passed the ball past the goalkeeper to a sliding Ramselaar in the dying embers of the first half.
Muangthong poured forward as they looked to unlock a stubborn Sailors defence.
But they found themselves 3-0 behind in the 63rd minute as the impressive Shawal lobbed the Muangthong goalkeeper after being played onside.
Aleksandar Rankovic's men capped off a sensational performance as Shawal netted his second in the 88th minute.
The Lion City Sailors' Maxime Lestienne takes on an opponent from Muangthong United. (Photo: CNA/Matthew Mohan)
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, in the 2018 edition of the AFC Cup.
The Sailors booked their spot in the round of 16 after topping Group F, ahead of Thai side Port FC, China's Zhejiang FC and Indonesia's Persib Bandung.
Source: CNA/mt(mi)
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