Home United moved through to the quarterfinals of the Singapore Cup on Thursday night after recording a controversial 2-1 Preliminary Round win over Hougang United at Bishan Stadium.
After Azhar Sairudin had fired the Protectors ahead in the 48th minute, extra time looked on the cards when Fumiya Kogure equalised for the visitors with a fine individual effort 10 minutes later. But deep into injury time, Ken Ilso netted the winner to send his side through to the last eight, albeit in controversial fashion.
Hougang were furious with a series of calls by referee G. Letchman, including the awarding of the free kick that led to the goal. The controversial finish to the game sparked ugly scenes after the final whistle as Hougang players confronted Letchman.
The dramatic end was a far cry from a dour first half that saw both sides create few chances. Ilso was first to threaten after six minutes with a fierce shot that was smartly saved at the near post by Khairulhin Khalid. Then, the hosts had another chance seven minutes before the break when Sirina Camara pounced on a loose ball but could only lash his effort over the bar.
But two minutes into the second half, the deadlock was finally broken. Sirina Camara broke free down the left and floated in a dangerous cross which was met by Azhar with a diving header past Khairulhin.
Nonetheless, Hougang levelled the scores two minutes before the hour mark when Kogure received possession outside the box, and proceeded to send a stunning 25-yard strike into the top corner.
By now, the game had certainly livened up and Raihan Rahman came extremely close to firing Hougang in front. A ferocious strike sailed inches wide before Ilso fired away an excellent free kick that came back off the foot of the post.
In the 90th minute, the hosts looked destined to reclaim the lead when Ilso's low cross was spilled by Khairulhin and Khairul Nizam reacted quickest to fire away a shot on the turn only for Delwinder Singh to brilliantly clear it off the line.
However, in the fourth minute of injury time, the controversial moment of the game arrived. Moments after Jozef Kaplan had been denied what looked a clear free kick, the Protectors were awarded one of their own following a foul on Nizam. Zulfahmi Arifin proceeded to float a dangerous ball into the box. After the pass was missed by a sea of players, Ilso climbed highest to nod it over the line from a couple of yards out to win it for the Protectors.
Although he was fuming at the final whistle, Hougang coach K. Balagumaran did manage to calm himself down as he opted not to direct any criticism at the officials.
"This is a part of the game I have to take," he said. "It feels sad and I'm disappointed because the players fought so hard and gave everything and, in the end, the free kick cost us the game.
"This was something the boys were really looking forward to doing well in as the Singapore Cup is something we know we can go far and achieve something."
Home coach Philippe Aw believes his players were deserving winners, despite having to claim the victory in controversial circumstances.
"We had chances. We hit the post and even had a shot cleared off the line," said Aw. "Based on the clear chances that we created, I feel we deserved to go through.
"I think scoring early in the second half made the game a better one because then they [Hougang] couldn't sit back and it allowed us to start playing our game."
Home United: Zulfairuuz Rudy, Redzwan Atan, Abdil Qaiyyim, Shahrin Saberin, Sirina Camara, Syahiran Miswan (Zulfahmi Arifin 77'), Song Ui-young, Shamil Sharif (Khairul Nizam 59'), Azhar Sairudin, Faris Ramli, Ken Ilso
Hougang United: Khairulhin Khalid, Khairulnizam Jumahat (Iqbal Hussain 62'), Wahyudi Wahid, Delwinder Singh, Faiz Salleh, M. Anumanthan, Raihan Rahman, Fairoz Hasan, Jozef Kaplan, Stipe Plazibat, Fumiya Kogure