SINGAPORE -- Given his reputation as one of the most-prolific strikers in Asian football -- with a record of 69 goals over the past four years in the J1 League, widely regarded as the continent's strongest domestic competition -- the off-season capture of Anderson Lopes was seen as a massive coup by Lion City Sailors.
Understandably, given the hype that surrounded his arrival in the Singapore Premier League, the fact that the Brazilian then went goalless in his first five outings would have been slightly frustrating if not overly alarming.
Throughout those early games, Sailors coach Aleksandar Ranković regularly called for patience with his new asset in attack.
And on Wednesday, Lopes showed just why he could emerge as a pivotal figure for his new side -- remarkably netting all of their goals as they picked up their first win of the new AFC Champions League Two campaign with a 4-2 victory over Selangor at Bishan Stadium.
In a blistering start to the tie, the Sailors raced to a two-goal lead inside 13 minutes but a 90-minute halt to proceedings due to inclement weather came at a perfect time for Selangor to regroup -- and it took them just six minutes after play resumed to pull one back through a Chrigor penalty.
Nonetheless, it was then the hosts' turn to choose an opportune moment to strike -- with Lopes completing his hat-trick on the stroke of halftime to deflate Selangor's spirits, and then adding a fourth nine minutes after the restart to effectively put the result beyond doubt before Faisal Abdul Halim added a consolation with 17 minutes remaining.
"Yes, in every league, you always need time to adapt and be at certain level," Lopes replied via an interpreter, when asked by ESPN if he feels relieved that he is finally getting among the goals.
"Also, I always try to improve myself. This type of adaptation takes times.
"But, good -- I think it [the adaptation period] is finished, and I'm looking forward to scoring more goals. Tonight, I'm very happy to score four goals to give the win to the fans that were here."
A display brimming with wily opportunism and sheer clinicality in equal measure -- which showed why he is such a potent spearhead -- began after just seven minutes.
Racing onto Diogo Costa's clipped ball down the left, Bart Ramselaar left Quentin Cheng for dead with a cut-back down the byline before floating a ball towards the far post -- where Maxime Lestienne's deft header towards goal was helped home by a perfectly-positioned Lopes.
Six minutes later, it was once again a case of being in the right place at the right time for the 32-year-old.
As a Selangor clearance to the halfway line was sent back towards the edge of the area, a speculative effort from Ramselaar was deflected and fell kindly into the path of Lopes -- who calmly took it around the onrushing Kalamullah Al-Hafiz to slot into the unguarded net.
While Lopes would end up the star of the evening, he certainly was aided by vital contributions from a stellar supporting cast.
In first-half injury-time, it was Lestienne's turn to be the architect. Latching onto an excellent searching pass from goalkeeper Ivan Sušak, the Belgian made his way into the area before his delightful backheel released Tsiy Ndenge to slide a deft ball across the face of goal to leave Lopes with the easiest of finishes.
And in the 54th minute, Lopes would complete his haul -- showing he has no issues even on his non-preferred foot as he applied the finishing touches to a sweeping counterattack with a delicate first-time finish past Kalamullah after again being set up by Ramselaar.
Including his first two goals for the club in their last outing -- a 7-0 rout of Tanjong Pagar United in the Singapore Premier League -- Lopes now has six goals in his past two matches, but it was perhaps a slight surprise that he even returned to the starting XI on Thursday.
After last season's top scorer Lennart Thy, who has had to bide his time this season since the arrival of Lopes, emerged as a last-gasp equalising hero in their previous ACL Two game against Persib Bandung, the German finally earned a start in that next match against Tanjong Pagar.
Thy would duly score twice in that game, although the 72nd-minute introduction of Lopes -- with the game already in the bag -- would provide him the perfect opportunity to break his duck.
It would still not have been a complete surprise if Thy had been preferred against Selangor, but Ranković's choice would be vindicated.
"That kind of pressure on him [Lopes] doesn't come from us," he said. "We always knew he's a top player.
"To be honest, every foreign player I've had that came here has needed this period of adaptation. They had to adapt in the first few months and weren't really at their [actual] level.
"But we know his [Lopes'] quality. Now I have two or three good strikers breathing down each other's necks and bringing out the best in one another. That's a good thing but I never doubted [Lopes]."