Nine-man Jaguars grab win

HARIMAU

MUDA B 1

(Akhir Bahari 23)

TANJONG

PAGAR 2

(Masrezwan Masturi 31, Azrul Nizam 65-og)

Tanjong Pagar opened their Great Eastern-Yeo's S.League campaign on a winning note, overcoming Harimau Muda B 2-1 at the Pasir Gudang Stadium last night despite having two players sent off in the second half.

The Jaguars, who lost this fixture 3-0 last season, went a goal down on 23 minutes when Akhir Bahari dribbled past his marker and drilled a shot into the bottom corner.

Playing without suspended marquee forward Monsef Zerka, the visitors settled down immediately after the goal.

New striker Masrezwan Masturi, who was a handful for the young Malaysians all night, equalised with a delightful lob on 31 minutes.

The Jaguars caught a break just after halftime when the home side's winger Faris Shah ballooned the ball over from close range with only goalkeeper Aurelien Herisson to beat.

Their second dose of luck came in the 65th minute when defender Azrul Nizam bundled a Masrezwan cross into his own net.

Ruzaini Zainal saw red for an off-the-ball nudge on Azrul eight minutes later and defender Hafiz Osman was also given his marching orders in injury time.

But Tanjong Pagar defended resolutely to earn their first win over the Malaysian outfit in three meetings.

Said Jaguars coach Patrick Vallee: "My team fought, in a good way, to win this game and important for me is to keep their (winning) mentality for the next match against Hougang (on Thursday)."

- ALI KASIM