Lokomotive Steamrolling
Donato Deed
The addition of Branbilla and a visit to a new country didn't kindle any spirit in Grilled's second stringers, as they fell 7-0 to four-time Benin national champions Lokomotive Cotonou. This was despite the hosts going down to ten men after half an hour as striker Azubuike Agnidé received a second yellow, but that didn't slow the Lokomotive machine any as they didn't break stride in crushing the visiting Birds.
The teenaged Agnidé, who already has seven Cup goals in his pocket despite this being his first full season, was in the thick of the action from the opening whistle. He barreled up the left, intimidating Chuancheng into giving up the ball, and should have had an assist after he delivered invitingly across goal. No worries, as the youngster made his own luck, bundling
Lim Chuan Heng off the ball in a dubious challenge that was not called, before tucking it away on eight minutes.
Encouraged by the referee's hands-off approach, Agnidé went too far when he gave Chuancheng a knee in the midsection as the Grilled starlet tried to wriggle free, and that got him a yellow card. It will be of little consolation to Chuancheng, however, as the winger was led off almost in tears. Lokomotive weren't affected, and
Badrul Afzan bin Mustapa had barely come on when they won and converted a penalty kick though Leonardo Donato.
The robust challenges continued as Lokomotive took the match much more seriously than expected, with Zbigniew Bronowski booked for the intent behind a slide in from the side, that Branbilla thankfully managed to vault. There was no stopping their restless attack, and Ola Sundstedt benefited from lots of movement from an indirect free-kick, before Marco Falcone Aniello made a spectacular run right down the middle for the fourth goal.
Azubuike Agnidé then gave the Birds a lifeline, after Huihong appeared to have successfully shielded a ball that was running out of play from him. Agnidé was adamant that the Grilled defender had gotten in a slight touch, however, and went as far as to kick the ball away from Bao-Tam and towards the corner flag. This was not received well by the referee, who instantly showed him his second yellow and then the red.
There was no reprive for Grilled, as Lokomotive were about as effective with one striker as two. Aniello simply upped his game, and the prolific Italian should have eclipsed his earlier effort with a stunning full volley from outside the area. Bao-Tam relived his glory days with an equally improbable save, earning scattered applause from the appreciative supporters, who could afford to be magnanimous.
Perhaps they knew that there would be more to come, even after Bao-Tam repeated the trick with a second wonderful stop from Bronowski. True to expectations, Horst-Friedrich Baldauf finally caught the goalkeeper out after a couple of swift passes to and fro, and Amir Takalainen headed number six in before Donato completed the rout.
