S.League champions Albirex Niigata (S) got their title defence up and running on Sunday evening as they came from behind to beat eight-man Tampines Rovers 2-1 at the Singapore National Stadium.
After winning an unprecedented four trophies in 2016, the Japanese outfit grabbed the first silverware on offer in 2017.
It initially looked as though it would be Tampines who would open their campaign with a win after Ryutaro Megumi nodded them in front nine minutes before half-time. But they were dealt a real blow when Yasir Hanapi was sent off shortly after the hour mark.
Albirex went on to make the most of their numerical advantage as a brace from Shoichiro Sakamoto handed them a come-from-behind victory.
To add insult to injury, Tampines finished the match with eight men as they had both captain Madhu Mohana and Ismadi Mukhtar sent off in the closing stages.
It was a disappointing and controversial end to what had promised to be a positive outing for the Stags, especially after a positive display in the first half in front of 15,480 fans.
As expected, the White Swans were the ones who enjoyed plenty of possession in the opening exchanges. But good discipline at the back by their opponents restricted them to mainly shots from distance.
Shuto Inaba and Ryota Nakai both had decent efforts kept out by Izwan Mahbud, while Kento Nagasaki curled a 25-yard free kick just over the bar.
Then, with their first real effort on goal, Tampines broke the deadlock after Dzoni found space down the right. He played a perfectly-weighted cross to find the darting run of Megumi, who coolly nodded past Yosuke Nozawa.
Just two minutes later, it was almost 2-0 when Yasir Hanapi pounced on a weak clearance and unleashed a dipping half volley that landed on the roof of the net.
Tampines continued to look dangerous in the second half. Dzoni came close to doubling their lead in the 56th minute, charging into the box only for his left-footed drive to be brilliantly pushed over by Nozawa.
The Stags looked destined to add to their tally when they were awarded on penalty a minute before the hour mark, after Daniel Bennett was dragged down by Takuya Akiyama at a corner.
Although Dzoni made no mistake in finishing from 12 yards, referee Sukhbir Singh controversially called for a retake. While he beat Yozawa once more, he could only watch on in despair as his second effort came back off the post.
Things went from bad to worse for Tampines in the 64th minute when Yasir cynically dragged back Ryuta Motoda to halt a counter attack.
The tide had now swung in favour of the White Swans. Ten minutes later, they found the equaliser when Motoda's layoff on the edge of the area was dummied by Nakai into the path of Sakamoto, who emphatically blasted his shot past Izwan.
And, with nine minutes remaining, the comeback was complete as Sakamoto emerged as the hero. He ghosted in between two defenders to meet Naofumi Tanaka's excellent low cross, steering his shot into the bottom corner.
Congratulations to Albirex Niigata (S) (@ALB_S_FC) for winning the 2017 Great Eastern Community Shield! pic.twitter.com/08ZE1Cl07o
- S.League (@FootballSLEAGUE) February 26, 2017
There was still more drama to follow as Madhu was shown a straight red for a studs-up challenge on Yamanouchi in the 88th minute, before Ismadi was also issued his marching orders deep into injury time as the 2017 S.League season got off to a thrilling, albeit controversial, start.
Albirex Niigata (S): Yosuke Nozawa, Rui Kumada (Ryuta Motoda 60'), Yasutaka Yanagi, Takuya Akiyama, Naofumi Tanaka, Hiroyoshi Kamata, Shuto Inaba, Yuuki Yamanouchi, Kento Nagasaki, Ryota Nakai (Shoma Kondo 90'), Tsubasa Sano (Shoichiro Sakamoto 60')
Tampines Rovers: Izwan Mahbud, Madhu Mohana, Fahrudin Mustafic (Jufri Taha 86'), Daniel Bennett, Ismadi Mukhtar, Yasir Hanapi, Son Yong-chan, Irwan Shah, Ryutaro Megumi, Syed Haziq (Hafiz Rahim 32'), Ivan Dzoni (Khairul Amri 67')