S.League Team of the Week

By Gabriel Tan

The Jaguars kept the dominant Balestier at bay for much of the game with a resolute defensive display, before grabbing all three points through Takaya Kawanabe's 71st-minute penalty, after Tigers keeper Joey Sim was adjudged to have kicked out at the Japanese forward.

Elsewhere on Sunday, Courts Young Lions held Albirex Niigata to a 1-1 draw at the Jalan Besar Stadium, their second match of the round after losing to Tampines Rovers 2-1 on Thursday.

Saturday's action saw leaders DPMM FC trash Hougang United 5-1, Home United beat Woodlands Wellington 3-1, while an injury-time strike from Shimpei Sakurada helped SAFFC to a 1-0 win over Gombak United.

Harimau Muda were also on action on Thursday at the Jalan Besar Stadium, where they beat Geylang United 2-0 after wonder strikes from Wan Zack Haikal and D. Saarvindran.

Here, ESPNSTAR.com picks our best XI from this week's S.League action.

GK: Farhan Abu Bakar (Harimau Muda)

After nearly having to come on as an outfielder in Harimau's last game against Hougang, Farhan was given the nod by coach Ong Kim Swee on Thursday and repaid his manager's faith by pulling off a string of fine saves.

With the Young Tigers holding on to a slim lead, the 19-year-old did well to keep out Michael King's low drive in the 56th minute, before pulling off a flying save to claw away a sublime freekick attempt from the Englishman.

RB: Nor Azli Yusoff (Home United)

Since being handed a chance to impress at right-back after a long-term injury to Rosman Sulaiman, Nor Azli hasn't looked back since and has established himself as a regular starter for the Protectors.

With Woodlands channeling their passes down the middle on Saturday, the Home defender decided to exploit them by making several overlapping sprints down the right to put the Rams on the back foot.

On one such lungbursting run in the 41st minute, Nor Azli was picked up by a clever pass from Shotaro Ihata and proceeded to float a perfect cross onto the head of Frederic Mendy to open the scoring.

CB: Hanafi Salleh (Tanjong Pagar United)

The Jaguars showed real resilience on Sunday to keep a clean sheet against Balestier, although to be honest, the Tigers were far from their best and were lacking creativity up front.

In fact, their best chances came when Hafiz Osman twice dallied too long on the ball and handed possession straight to the visitors. On both occasions, just as Patrick Paranjody and Park Kang-jin looked set to test Fajar Sarib, Hanafi came up with a desperate sliding challenge to shut the door right in their faces.

CB: Benoit Croissant (Tampines Rovers)

Tampines have had their fair share of problems in defence so far this season but Croissant has been a real steadying influence at the back.

On Thursday, he did extremely well to negate the impact his countryman Jonathan Toto had for Young Lions, helping the Stags to a much-needed victory.

LB: Takeshi Ito (Albirex Niigata)

The 24-year-old earns his second Team of the Week nomination after putting in another impressive shift at left-back for the White Swans in Sunday's draw against Young Lions.

Ito never stopped running all evening long and also whipped in several dangerous balls that gave the opposition defence a real scare.

RM: Azwan Saleh (DPMM FC)

Azwan has been a real factor behind DPMM's fantastic start to the season and he was at it again on Saturday as he grabbed a brace in their 5-1 rout of the Cheetahs.

There was a touch of fortune in the way he doubled their lead on the stroke of halftime when his freekick caught Fadhil Salim in two minds and was allowed to bounce into the back of the net.

However, there was no denying his intent when he grabbed his second of the game in the 53rd minute, as he let fly from 40 yards and found the back of the net via a deflection off Faizal Amir.

CM: Shimpei Sakurada (SAFFC)

SAFFC recorded their third consecutive 1-0 victory against the Bulls on Saturday, and while their matchwinner had been Mislav Karoglan on both previous occasions, Sakurada rose to the occasion this time around, on his birthday no less.

The Japanese midfielder was neat in possession all evening long and always looked to get the Warriors on the front foot, and before expertly firing a shot from outside the box into the bottom corner in the 92nd minute to grab all three points for his side.

LM: Michael King (Geylang United)

King was unlucky to be on the losing side on Thursday after putting in a brilliant performance down the left flank for the Eagles against Harimau.

The former Burnley midfielder was never afraid to run at defenders and made Mahalli Jasuli look silly on a number of occasions with his quick feet and turn of pace. If it had not been for an excellent display from Farhan and the woodwork, King might have singlehandedly won the game for Geylang.

RF: Wan Zack Haikal (Harimau Muda)

And while King was the star for Geylang, there was no denying who the Young Tigers' main man was at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

While he didn't exactly play as a forward, he might as well have considering how often he received the ball in attacking positions and easily glided past his opponents, before drilling in crosses that his strikers were a little wasteful with.

Two minutes before the break, Wan Zack displayed his full talent when he picked up the ball with his back to goal, left his opponent standing with a clever flick, before unleashing a left-footed drive that had Yazid Yassin beaten all ends up.

LF: Shahrazen Said (DPMM FC)

Shahrazen gets the nod for the second week running after he gave the Hougang defence a real headache on Saturday, en route to scoring his 7th and 8th goals of the season.

The 26-year-old put his goalscoring instincts to good use in the 38th minute after reacted well to Azwan's deflected cross to nod home from six yards, before he made it 4-0 to the Wasps when he capitalised on some indecisive defending to rifle home a shot from close range.

CF: Frederic Mendy (Home United)

Mendy was at his absolute best on Saturday as he put the Woodlands defence to the sword, taking the lead in the goalscorers chart in the process with a well-taken hat-trick.

He opened the scoring in the 41st minute when he did well to find space in the box before nodding home Nor Azli's cross from six yards.

Woodlands immediately hit back just before the break but two minutes after the restart, the Frenchman pounced on some comical defending to grab his second and put the Protectors back in front.

And the win, and his hat-trick, was secured 11 minutes from time when Qiu Li floated a clever ball over the Mendy, who trapped the ball at the far post and beat a defender, before firing a shot past Ahmadulaq Che Omar.