S.League Team of the Week

Having failed to record wins in their opening two matches of the new Great Eastern-YEO's S.League season against Woodlands Wellington and Tanjong Pagar United, as well as falling to defeats in the AFC Cup against Semen Padang and Kitchee, V. Selvaraj's side finally picked up all three points at the Bedok Stadium thanks to goals from Mislav Karoglan, Tatsuro Inui and Shimpei Sakurada.

However, it was not all doom and gloom for Geylang as they did pick up their first points of the campaign in the opening match of the round last Sunday when they beat Harimau Muda 4-1 at the Pasir Gudang Corporation Stadium.

Home United also recorded their first win of the year at the Queenstown Stadium on Thursday when they cruised to a 3-0 win over high-flying Tanjong Pagar, while Woodlands Wellington and Hougang United played out a 0-0 draw at the Jalan Besar Stadium a day later.

Leaders Albirex Niigata (S) maintained their perfect start to the season on Monday when they beat DPMM FC 2-1 at the Jurong East Stadium, although - having played a game more - they are only three points clear of defending champions Tampines Rovers, who beat Balestier Khalsa 2-1 on Sunday.

Balestier, like Geylang, also played twice this round and while they were held to a 1-1 draw by Courts Young Lions on Wednesday, they were ultimately awarded a 3-0 victory after Aide Iskandar's side were found guilty of fielding ineligible players.

With seven games to pick from, FOX Sports presents to you our best 11 players from this week's S.League action.

GK: Zaiful Nizam (Balestier Khalsa)

Having fully recovered from a serious knee injury that saw him miss the Tigers' opening three games - during which he was ably deputised by Daniel Ong - Zaiful took his place between the sticks on Sunday and had a blinder despite ending up on the losing end.

The ex-Gombak United custodian made a stunning reflex save after just nine minutes to keep out a bullet header from Kunihiro Yamashita, and repelled almost everything the Stags threw at him for much of the evening.

Even after Seiji Kaneko had pulled Tampines level with a 60th-minute header, Zaiful looked to have salvaged a share of the spoils for his side when he denied Aleksandar Duric twice in quick succession seven minutes from time, only for Shahdan Sulaiman to score the winner five minutes later.

RB: Abdil Qaiyyim (Warriors FC)

It was a strange evening at the Bedok Stadium on Saturday as the Warriors ran out convincing winners despite their clash with Geylang being a fairly even encounter.

Nonetheless, one player that really shone for them was ex-LIONSXII man Abdil, who defended resolutely throughout the 90 minutes and was also tidy in possession.

CB: Kunihiro Yamashita (Tampines Rovers)

On an evening where nothing seemed to go right for the Tampines strikers, Yamashita almost singlehandedly won the game for his side as he seemed determined to find the back of the net despite playing at the other end of the field.

After being denied by Zaiful's flying save in the 9th minute, the ex-Albirex man threatened twice more with headers, before rifling a left-footed effort from the edge of the area just wide ten minutes from time.

Nonetheless, Yamashita didn't let his adventurous ways affect his defensive duties and made a brilliant block to keep out a goal-bound effort from Kim Min-ho nine minutes after Kaneko had nodded home Tampines' equaliser.

CB: Hasree Zais (Hougang United)

In recent weeks, Hougang's Syaqir Sulaiman has earned the plaudits after a series of excellent displays but on Friday, it was Hasree's turn to come to the fore after helping his side to a clean sheet against a dangerous Woodlands attack.

The 24-year-old completely starved opposition striker Chang Jo-yoon of any service as he weighed in with one timely interception after another, and was also very strong in aerial challenges.

LB: Rosman Sulaiman (Woodlands Wellington)

In a game that ended as a goalless draw, it should come as no surprise that Woodlands too have a defender that has received the nod in Rosman, who seems to be enjoying a new lease of life since leaving the Bishan Stadium to join Salim Moin's charges.

The experienced defender already looks to have made the left-back spot his own and put in another no-nonsense display against the Cheetahs as he kept Robert Eziakor completely quiet.

RM: Jordan Webb (Home United)

Despite a change of scenery after leaving Hougang to join the Protectors, Webb has already picked up where he left off last season and, along with Noh Rahman and Sirina Camara, has been one of Home's star performers.

Blessed with blistering pace and a bag of tricks, Webb left the Tanjong Pagar defenders in his wake on Thursday and it was fitting that it was he who opened the scoring for the visitors, latching onto a clever ball by Hafiz Rahim before calmly firing past Aurelien Herisson.

CM: Shuhei Hotta (Albirex Niigata)

One of just four players retained from the Albirex squad that finished third last season, Hotta has wasted no time in proving why coach Koichi Sugiyama was right to hand him the captain's armband.

Against DPMM, the Chiba native not only provided an excellent shield in front of his backline, but also dictated the tempo for the White Swans by linking up well with Kento Nagasaki and Masatake Sato in the middle of the park.

CM: Nur Na'iim Ishak (Courts Young Lions)

Even before the start of the campaign, 2013 had already looked set to be a trying one for Young Lions given the youthful squad Aide has been handed, but their season got worse on Thursday after they were found guilty of fielding ineligible players, meaning their point from the 1-1 draw with Balestier was chalked off.

Still, one positive from that game did emerge in the form of Na'iim, who battled valiantly against the experienced Tigers duo of Park Kang-jin and Tengku Mushadad, and even got his side on the front foot on another of occasions with his simple but incisive passing.

LM: Azwan Saleh (DPMM FC)

DPMM were handed their first loss of the season as they were beaten by Albirex, but they certainly cannot be faulted for a lack of effort as they more than matched their opponents.

In particular, Azwan posed a real threat to the White Swans defence as he burst forward at every possible opportunity and swung in several dangerous crosses into the box that his strikers were unable to capitalise on.

The Brunei international's work ethic also saw him regularly track back to help out in defence, which was particularly helpful given he was playing alongside 35-year-old Shahrulrizal Abd Rahman, who was struggling to keep up with the pace of the opposition forwards.

ST: Jozef Kaplan (Geylang International)

Geylang had Kaplan to thank for their first win of the year last Sunday as he grabbed a hat-trick to down Harimau Muda.

His first came shortly before the break with an emphatic effort from the spot, before he showed a real poacher's instinct to grab two more after the break, including an excellent header in the 50th minute from a Yasir Hanapi cross.

The Eagles had a less enjoyable outing seven days later when they fell to a heavy defeat against the Warriors, but Kaplan put in a man-of-the-match performance and nearly inspired his side to victory, despite the emphatic nature of the scoreline.

ST: Kazuki Sakamoto (Albirex Niigata)

Last season, the Albirex attack was led by the excellent Yasuhiro Yamakoshi, who proved to be capable of scoring from almost anywhere on the pitch and from any kind of situation.

His replacement Sakamoto appears to be a different kind of striker as he rarely ventures out of the box but he could just prove to be equally effective, with his clinical finishing and ability to hold up the ball.

Against DPMM, he never seemed fazed by the prospect of being double-teamed, managing to do enough to fend off challenges while waiting for team-mates to arrive in support, and also popped up to score the winner in the second half when he blasted home a Bruno Castanheira flick-on header from six yards out.

Images courtesy of Warriors FC, Balestier Khalsa (Andrew Lim), Home United (Jaron Lee) and Geylang International