The Korean star, Park Kang Jin went ahead as a substitute after a long-standing spell out with injury, yet the Tigers paid for squandering their chances as the Cheetahs returned away with three points.
Balestier Khalsa respected the reappearance of star man Park Kang Jin on Friday night, however he was unsuccessful to bring the team into victory as they went down 2-1 to Hougang United at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
The Korean playmaker has finished the full 90 minutes of the game, his third appearance on the campaign after missing most of his team’s game this season due to injury. The extensive nonattendance corresponded with six-game winless streak that ended after they won against Harimau Muda last Wednesday.
Balestier tried to expand on that by bringing on Park halfway at the second half at 1-1 and he almost made a goal within five minutes, jabbing a shot distressingly wide of the far post.
While the Cheetahs ended the game triumphantly, the substitute did make instantaneous improvement to Balestier's offensive play in spite of clearly not being match-fit.
After the match, coach Marko Kraljevic revealed that the 25-year-old had only prepared for one week, expressing that he required more time to recapture his structure. The German-Croat then emphasized Park's imperativeness, as he has done so frequently before, comparing him to an alternate Premier League star in the wake of contrasting him with Liverpool's, Coutinho a week ago.
"Arsenal, they didn't win the championship because of Ozil [although] they have many other world-class players," he called attention to, alluding to the German star's injury issues throughout the Gunners' title run-in.
Balestier will unquestionably trust for Park to be once more taking care of business soon as they are situated to lose an alternate star in skipper Paul Cunningham.
Actually, the Tigers made enough opportunities to win even without Park. Kim Min-ho struck the bar when the game was still goal-less, while Goran Ljubojevic was denied by Fadhil Salim's outstanding block while waltzing through Hougang’s defence earlier in the second half.
Geison Moura made them pay on the 60th minute mark, sidefooting home a fine first-time finish off of Fairoz Hasan's low cross.
That ended up being the decider after Ljubojevic's penalty had cancelled out Diego Gama's corner, which had twisted straight into goal for the opener.
Ruhaizad Ismail's fabulous dipping strike went barely over the bar late on as Hougang hold on for a clinical win, notwithstanding Balestier having the better of the second half. It was a triumph that satisfied Amin Nasir, who saw his team tumble to a surprising loss against the Courts Young Lions a week ago.
"Its very crucial for us to win tonight, the boys needed to bounce back and today's game was very important for their morale," Amin said. "I am glad they responded tonight."
The former Singapore international likewise communicated his fulfilment at his team's performances after the first round of matches, expressing that they were "comfortable" with wearing the underdogs label and would continue giving their best.
He stated, "It won't be right for me to say we’re going for a top-three finish; we managed to be at the sixth position [currently] and we will try to maintain it."
Kraljevic was left to regret one laps in fixation for yet an alternate thrashing in a baffling campaign so far, however trusts his side can improve in the remaining matches.
"Of course it’s disappointing," Kraljevic admitted. "It’s just some individual mistake and then we conceded a goal. You miss [chances], then you concede, this is football.”
"I think we can do better, I really do."
