 Football: Young Lions beat Albirex Niigata 1-0 in S.League match
SINGAPORE : An amazing individual goal by star striker Khairul Amri four minutes from time gave the Young Lions all three points against Japanese side Albirex Niigata in an NTUC Income-Yeo's S-League clash at the Jurong East Stadium on Sunday night.
With the match seemingly destined to end in a stalemate, substitute Shukor Zailan found Khairul lurking out on the right.
The 22-year-old striker ran at full-back Masatoshi Saiga and Albirex skipper Shin Hosogai, confusing both players with his mazy run before unleashing a venomous shot into the roof of the net to spark wild celebrations in the away end of the stadium.
The Young Lions nearly made it 2-0 minutes later, if not for the woodwork.
Brazilian forward Leandro Rodrigues found himself with space at the edge of the area, but his shot bounced off the crossbar near the stroke of full-time.
For Albirex, it was a case of "what-ifs", as a fluffed clearance by Young Lions' goalkeeper Zakaria Normat had resulted in a Tetsuya Okayama shot similarly hitting the crossbar just before the break, before Zakaria redeemed himself by tipping over midfielder Hideaki Iwahana's rising shot just after the hour mark.
The win saw V Sundramoorthy's side consolidate their fourth spot in the standings.
They now have 29 points, four more than fifth-placed Gombak United, although the Bulls have played two matches less. - TODAY/ch | 
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