SINGAPORE – The LionsXII extended their perfect home record and soared to the top of the Malaysian Super League today after a late Shahril Ishak strike gave the Singapore side a 1-0 win over Negeri Sembilan.

The LionsXII dominated the match for long periods of time but were unable to break the deadlock as Fazrul Nawaz, Shahril Ishak, Shafiq Ghani and substitute Gabriel Quak all squandered golden opportunities to score. The home side were also denied a penalty by the referee when Fazrul Nawaz looked to have been blatantly fouled in the penalty area.

But LionsXII captain Shahril rose highest in the box in the 80th minute to power a header into the net and secure all three points, much to the delight of the fans at the Jalan Besar stadium. The result also left Negeri Sembilan, the league’s bottom club, winless after playing 11 league games.