AFC Champions League Group G - Singapore Armed Forces FC 2-1 Henan Jianye‏ (CHN)

Erwan Gunawan (second from right) scored the winner

The picture above is a snapshot of a historical moment for Singapore football.

This was the moment when substitute striker Erwan Gunawan (second blue jersey player from the right) headed home the winning goal to give SAFFC and Singapore their first-ever victory in the continental elite club competition over China's Henan Jianye.

John Wilkinson (center) started his first game for the Warriors 

The Warriors' defense were not being stressed as compared to the last 2 ACL home outings.

As compared to their last two outing at the Jalan Besar Stadium, Henan's cautious and possession type of football complemented the style of the Singapore representative, as both Suwon Samsung and Gamba Osaka duly punished the Warriors with their much superior swift mobility tactics.

Daniel Bennett's strike in the 65th minute gave SAFFC the lead.

Erwan Gunawan came on as a replacement for Indra Sahdan

Probably because of that "toned down" pace of the match, the home side had a relatively easier game as compared to their encounters against the said Korean and Japanese powerhouses.

Nonetheless, it was a milestone not only for the Warriors who are now richer by US$40,000 (for winning a group stage match).

Henan Jianye supporters

A stark contrast compared to their Shanghai counterparts last year, these Henan Jianye supporters were relatively quiet throughout the game (unlike this picture above as they tried to hype it up but failed to sustain.)

POST-MATCH PRESS CONFERENCE

Henan Jianye coach Tang Yaodong

"We were focusing our attention on this match and it's not that essential to have ourselves psychologically prepare for whatever outcome of the other game." said Henan coach Tang Yaodong in his post-match media briefing when asked if he was aware of the outcome of other Group G match between Gamba Osaka and Suwon Samsung Bluewings.

"I felt we had created a few chances which we failed to capitalize on them, whereas SAFFC had their two chances which they converted and that's football," he noted.

SAFFC's coach Richard Bok

It was a fantastic achievement for Singapore football for the first win in the ACL, not just for SAFFC and also for Singapore football as well." said a delighted SAFFC coach Richard Bok in his briefing to the media after the game.

"We set our target to improve what we done last year and to get our first win, it's a wonderful achievement as not only we met our but surpass that expectation." added coach Bok, whose team had gathered a win and a draw from this season's ACL campaign so far, when asked if the Warriors had met the expectation in this season's continental campaign.