SINGAPORE – Global conceded a late goal and absorbed a 0-1 setback to Singaporean side Geylang International in the first leg of their Singapore Cup quarterfinal tie Thursday night at Jalan Besar Stadium.
Geylang captain Jozef Kaplan beat Global keeper Roland Sadia with a shot to the bottom corner in the 87th minute to give the S-League side a narrow lead heading into the second leg on Sunday at Bedok Stadium here.
Misagh Bahadoran, Mark Hartmann and Matthew Hartmann all spurned good chances in a second half that Global dominated.
But Geylang scored against the run of play, thanks to a moment of brilliance from Kaplan who pounced on a moment of indecision from the Global defense.
Global arrived here reeling from its disqualification from the UFL Cup for fielding former player Satoshi Otomo as a Filipino player in the league competition.
After riding their luck in the first 15 minutes, coach Leigh Manson’s men settled into the game with Bahadoran causing problems with his pace and trickery.
Global probed with little reward in the second half before Kaplan finally broke the deadlock with his well placed strike. CFC