Danish forward Ken Ilso's penalty made the difference at the Jalan Besar Stadium on Thursday evening as Home United edged Hougang United 1-0 to extend their unbeaten run to 10 matches in all competitions.
Playing their first matches since the international break, both sides were eager to make an impression with plenty of pot-shots taken in the opening exchanges.
Only a few of them were truly threatening though, with Hougang's Vuk Sotirovic stinging Shahrul Jantan's palms with a 25-metre free kick while Ilso hit a close-range volley which was well parried by Ridhuan Barudin.
The second half was a slightly different story though, as Diego Gama's speculative volley on 49 minute was centimetres away from giving Hougang the lead.
It was Home United's turn to have a go in the 62nd minute, as Azhar Sairudin's left-footed shot was deflected just past the right-hand post by Delwinder Singh.
The deadlock was finally broken two minutes later as Ilso thumped home a penalty after being brought down by Nurhilmi Jasni inside the area.
Hougang applied the pressure in the last 15 minutes and threw centre-back Kunihiro Yamashita up to support the attack, but there was no getting past the solid Home defence led by Abdil Qaiyyim.
Sotirovic saw his close-range shot palmed away by Shahril before heading well over from Tengku Mushadad's free kick, to send Hougang crashing to their ninth league defeat of the season.
A visibly upset Hougang coach Salim Moin did not mince his words after the game.
"I'm disappointed with a few of them, but I don't want to name them," said the former Singapore international.
"The players need to understand that in football, you have to get behind the ball as quickly as possible once you lose it. Even expensive players have to do it and you do not just care about your hairstyle.
"Even when (Cristiano) Ronaldo puts gel or (Gareth) Bale ties his hair in a ponytail, they still do their defensive duties. Football is a team game. Once one or two players slacken, the whole organization will collapse.
"I don't understand why players do not follow simple instructions. Even if Jose Mourinho asks you to park the bus, you do so. I've been in football for many years, so if they try to be funny with me, out they go."
Hougang will look to bounce back in their next Great Eastern Yeo's S.League match as they take on Geylang International at the same venue next Friday.
Hougang United: Ridhuan Barudin (GK), Delwinder Singh, Tengku Mushadad, Kunihiro Yamashita, Lau Meng Meng, Nurhilmi Jasni (C), Carlos Delgado (Fazli Jaffar 72'), Atsushi Shimono, Fairoz Hasan (Fareez Farhan 20', Taufiq Ghani 84'), Vuk Sotirovic, Diego Gama
Home United: Shahril Jantan (GK), Ang Zhiwei, Abdil Qaiyyim, Shahrin Saberin, Juma'at Jantan (C), Imran Sahib (Ambroise Begue 55'), Yasir Hanapi, Song Uiyong, Azhar Sairudin (Stanely Ng 78'), Kamel Ramdani, Ken Ilso