Dejan Racic stars as Geylang International come from behind to rout Young Lions 5-1 in the SPL

SINGAPORE – Dejan Racic showcased his scoring prowess as he set up a goal and scored another to help Geylang International hammer Young Lions 5-1 in the Singapore Premier League at Jalan Besar Stadium on Sept 19.

The Montenegrin, who endured a goalless stint in the Indonesia Super League during the 2025-26 season after having scored 24 goals for Hougang United in the previous campaign, opened his account for his new team by making it 3-1 in the 38th minute.

It came after Fairuz Fazli had turned Racic’s low cross into his own net, just two minutes after Japanese winger Hisatoshi Nishido had given the Young Lions a shock lead in the 11th minute.

North Korean winger Yang Hyeon-ju then put Geylang in front in the 21st minute before completing his brace in stoppage time.

Sahil Suhaimi added the fifth late in added time against the hapless Cubs, who were without national goalkeeper Izwan Mahbud.

The Sunday Times understands that Izwan’s omission is a precautionary measure after he was substituted due to an injury in the 4-0 opening loss to FC Jurong on Sept 13. The Lions will be taking part in the inaugural FIFA ASEAN Cup in Indonesia, which runs from Sept 24 to Oct 5.

Racic described the win as the “perfect game”, after ending his goal drought.

He added: “They surprised us with the first goal... so we needed 10-15 minutes to adapt to the game. But after that... it was no problem for us.”

Geylang coach Noor Ali gave credit to the Young Lions and stressed they can “do better”.

“What’s important is the three points. I have enough firepower with players like Yang, Dejan, and I also have players like Kaisei (Ogawa) to come in and give the team confidence.”

Young Lions coach Firdaus Kassim was trying to find positives after conceding nine goals in their opening two matches.

“It’s not about the shape, because I think when we are compact, when we are pressing or being in our defensive shape, we are very difficult. Sometimes it’s also difficult for me to explain the goals that we concede.”

At Bishan Stadium, another Montenegrin, Boris Kopitovic, also played a starring role, with his penalty in the 14th minute of added time giving Tanjong Pagar United a 4-3 win over Balestier Khalsa.

The wild match, which featured three red cards – Bill Mamadou (16th minute) and Fudhil I’yadh (87th) for Balestier and Jared Gallagher (77th) for Tanjong Pagar – had looked set to end in a draw before the late flourish.

Mamadou opened the scoring for the Tigers after eight minutes but the Jaguars replied through Yuki Aizu (35th) and a Lazar Vujanic brace (49th, 56th).

Balestier fought back through late goals by Tin Matic (89th) and Marin Kuzminski (90th) but it was to no avail.

Analysis

The Young Lions were once again undone by unforced errors despite creating several first-half chances. They were better defensively after the break, but their attack lacked sting.

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