Two goals in the final 15 minutes helped Harimau Muda claim a stunning 2-1 win against Geylang International in the Great Eastern Yeo's S.League on Friday night at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
Following the win, Razip Ismail's side have registered four victories in their last five league games. The Malaysian side also leapfrogged their opponents to seventh in the standings.
But the game was marred in controversy as both the late goals came after what appeared to be fouls. An infuriated Eagles head coach Jorg Steinebrunner accused referee Muhd Syahir of giving the visitors a "helping hand".
Things looked good for Geylang early on as they went ahead in the 16th minute after Hafiz Nor won a penalty.
Following a one-two with Anaz Hadee, the winger sped down the right leaving Annas Rahmat on the ground with a neat feint. However, he was brought down by a second challenge from Azrul Nizam Muhammad.
Jozef Kaplan stepped up and coolly fired the spot kick beyond Ilham's fingertips for the lead.
Shahrul Igwan Samsudin prevented a second by heading Yuki Ichikawa's header off the line 10 minutes later, while Ilham also had to tip over Anaz Hadee's ambitious 40-yard lob.
To their credit, the Young Tigers came right back.
Syafwan Syahlan's looping header from a corner fell on to the top of the net, as Yazid Yasin desperately back-pedalled. The veteran goalkeeper then further denied Adam Nor and Syahrul.
Yazid pulled off his best save in the 63rd minute, blocking Adam's header from six yards after he met a curling free kick from Irfan Zakaria.
Then, the game was turned on its head as Harimau struck twice within nine minutes -- first with a 74th-minute equaliser.
Arif Anwar, who had come on only three minutes earlier, skipped past Thaha on the right and his low cross was deflected by Hafiz Osman. The ball bobbled nicely into Syafwan's path, who forced it beyond Yazid from a tight angle.
Buoyed by the goal, Harimau pressed for a second, which they got in the 83rd minute. Confusion reigned as Syahrul's cross from the left came in and Kento Fukuda inadvertently diverted the ball past Yazid.
A shell-shocked Geylang, who failed to create much of note in the second half, could not recover and their misery was compounded late on when Hafiz Osman was shown a straight red for an elbow.
Steinbrunner was furious that two apparent fouls on his players in the build-up to the goals were not called -- Fukuda for the first, then Yazid during the second.
"The first goal, it was a clear free kick on Kento not given. As for the second, the goalkeeper gets charged in the five-metre box a metre in front of the line," he blasted.
"So we have lost the game not because Harimau were the better team, but because the referee has given a helping hand. I'm actually fed up with all these things and hearing the fourth officials' excuses."
Steinbrunner called upon the Football Association of Singapore to review the refereeing.
"These are things that can make a team win or lose a game," he said. "Is anyone going to do anything about it? I can bet after that performance tonight, he's going to be refereeing in three days again.
"It's not the first time these things have happened. If we lose against a better team and we were not good enough, then fair enough. But this was not like that. Two fouls not given and we concede two goals -- that's the story of the second half, isn't it?"
His opposite number, Razip, saw things differently and believed his team deserved the win.
"From the beginning, we were the better side" he said. "Even though we were a goal down, we still kept fighting and kept creating chances.
"We never gave up, that's the most important thing -- we maintained our spirit."
Geylang International: Yazid Yasin, Anaz Hadee (Zulkifli Suzliman 69'), Hafiz Osman, Kento Fukuda, Syed Thaha, Nor Azli Yusoff (Mustaqim Manzur 87'), Yuki Ichikawa, Tatsuro Inui, Jozef Kaplan (C), Hafiz Nor, Bruno Castanheira (Shawal Anuar 46').
Harimau Muda: Ilham Amirullah, Ashmawi Yakin, Syawal Nordin (C), Annas Rahmat, Azrul Nizam Muhammad, Syahrul Azwari (Akhir Bahari 90+2'), Adam Nor Azlin, Irfan Zakaria (Kenny Pallraj 89'), Shahrul Igwan Samsudin (Arif Anwar 71'), Faizat Ghazali, Syafwan Syahlan.