SINGAPORE – About 11 months ago, the Lion City Sailors’ reputation in continental football took a hit.

Despite being drawn into a group featuring three fellow South-east Asian sides, the Singapore Premier League giants surprisingly failed to reach the knockout stages of the 2025-26 Asian Champions League Two (ACL2) campaign.

That was in December 2025. Two months later, then-head coach Aleksandar Rankovic paid the price for the poor run of results and left the club.

Fast forward to Nov 5, and the picture could hardly be more different.

In front of their passionate home fans, who displayed plenty of fervour with their relentless drumming and game-long chants, the Sailors showed their might as they thumped Adelaide United 5-0 at the Jalan Besar Stadium to record back-to-back victories over the Australian side.

In the process, they moved into a commanding position to reach the ACL2 knockout stages for just the second time, after their historic runners-up finish in the 2024-25 campaign following a fortuitous run to the final.

Sailors coach Mark Jackson was thrilled by his side’s dominance.

The English tactician said: “To win a game of football in this competition is difficult and to win by that number of goals is a great achievement.

“I asked the boys to be clinical today and getting that amount of goals is very, very pleasing. I’m really proud of the team.

“ It’s a big victory for us. Of course, how other people perceive that in the competition, that’s for them to look at. Not us, all we’ll do is look at how we’re developing as a team, as a squad, as a club, and we’ll continue to push forward. Our target is to go as deep into these competitions as we can.”

Adelaide’s Brazilian coach Airton Andrioli described it as a “tough night”, adding: “Two negative results in a short space of time but that’s football. The margin was disappointing.

“It was boys against men today and we need to take responsibility for that.”

The rout of Adelaide – who are the 2025-26 A-League regular-season runners-up – was also the Sailors’ seventh consecutive win across all competitions, a run in which they have scored 26 goals and kept six clean sheets. It was also the club’s biggest win in Asian Football Confederation competitions, surpassing a 4-0 victory over Thai side Muangthong United in February 2025.

After four matches, the Sailors are top of Group F with 10 points, with Thai outfit BG Pathum United three points behind in second after a 4-1 home win on Nov 5 over Hong Kong side Tai Po, who are bottom after losing all four of their games. Adelaide are third with six points.

The Sailors will face Pathum in Thailand on Nov 26, when a draw would be enough to seal a top-two spot in the group and qualify for the round of 16.

The Sailors’ ACL2 campaign had begun with a 1-1 home draw with Pathum, before back-to-back away wins over Tai Po and Adelaide.

In beating Adelaide 2-0 at the Coopers Stadium on Oct 29, the Sailors became the first Singaporean club to defeat an A-League team on Australian soil.

In the return match on Nov 5, as a thunderstorm caused a 90-minute delay to kick-off and threatened to dampen spirits, the Sailors – who once again started with 10 imports and Japan-born Lion Kyoga Nakamura – showed their eagerness to stamp their authority from the start.

Adelaide, who had come into this fixture after three straight defeats, were without talismanic Australian international forward Craig Goodwin, and looked shellshocked when the Sailors struck the opening goal after just five minutes.

Guadeloupe international forward Matthias Phaeton was afforded the time and space to run into the box before he fired past Dutch goalkeeper Joshua Smits.

In the 17th minute, Australian defender Bailey Wright doubled their advantage with a fierce drive from inside the box after a corner was not cleared effectively by Adelaide.

Nakamura then made it 3-0 in the 41st minute, latching on to a smart flick-on from German forward Lennart Thy before finishing with aplomb inside the box. It was the Lions midfielder’s first goal for the club since signing in January.

Nakamura, a father of two, then grabbed the ball, stuffed it underneath his shirt and sucked on his thumb in a celebration often used by footballers to share the news that their partner is expecting a baby.

The Sailors then made it four in the 71st minute when substitute Ilhan Fandi’s shot was diverted into his own goal by Adelaide midfielder Jay Barnett.

Four minutes later, Phaeton struck his second of the game when he drilled home from inside the box to cap a five-star showing from the hosts.

It was also Phaeton’s seventh goal for the Sailors in 11 appearances.

The 26-year-old, however, missed a chance to complete his hat-trick when he sent a penalty wide in the 88th minute after the referee had pointed to the spot for handball.