SINGAPORE: Lion City Sailors beat Thai giants Muangthong United 3-2 on Thursday (Feb 13) to move a step closer to the Asian Football Confederation Champions League 2 (ACL2) quarter-finals.
At the Thunder Dome stadium in Nonthaburi, goals from Shawal Anuar, Maxime Lestienne and Bart Ramselaar gave Aleksandar Rankovic’s men a comfortable cushion after the first 45 minutes.
But momentum swung in favour of the four-time Thai League 1 champions after a Song Ui-young red card in the 52nd minute.
Melvyn Lorenzen reduced arrears four minutes later, before a Tristan Do goal in the final minute of stoppage time meant that there would be all to play for in the second leg.
The Sailors will face their Thai opponents in the return leg at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Feb 20.
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.
They are currently six points clear at the top of the Singapore Premier League, with a game in hand on second-place Tampines Rovers.
