Catipulation
Iman Comes Of Age
Grilled never appeared harried against the visiting Cats United, who set up in damage-limitation mode from the word go, but didn't have all the ingredients to succeed at countering. Conversely, the Birds' 19 year-old Iranian forward
Iman Eshrafi had perhaps the game of his career thus far, as he stole the show in attack, winding up with his first-ever hat-trick.
Against Cats' specialised 5-2-3, possession was a given, and Eshrafi had a pop after just three minute, albeit a routine hit that Aw Jing Yun gathered easily. With
Florus Romijn rested, Grilled were intent on advancing down their right flank, and Tan Fu Han became an early victim of
Cyril Künzler's uncompromisingness, when he got his right arm jarred after it got caught between Künzler's legs. In came the teenaged Tarek Wahby, who would have scarce better luck against the Polish wing terror.
That said, Grilled often adopted a direct approach just because they could, and
Mohammad Ramli Saliman spotted a fleeting gap in Cats' armour, as their backline readjusted to the Grilled forwards' runs. The through pass was a thing of beauty, slid right between Vakkom Kesineni and Cheung Kian Puay, and
Iman Eshrafi would get started for the season by nonchalently lifting it high past Aw.
The Birds were not beyond some dirty tricks, such as when
Yuta Nakakita won it off Cats player-coach Blagoy Petrinski with a covert shove to the small of the latter's back, only to be spotted and carded by the eagle-eyed Eros Aristotele. That diversion aside, it was still all Grilled, all the way, and Eshrafi made it 2-0 in the 31st minute with a stiff header from Künzler's dipping cross.
An unusually-subdued
Chan Ze Han made a hash of a great chance in the 36th, but he did at least keep his standard up in the other areas of his game. Künzler continued being a monster on the right, and he claimed a second victim several minutes from half-time, accidentally catching substitute Tarek Wahby in the thigh on a follow-through. That certainly didn't endear Künzler to the travelling fans - not as if he ever was - and Ong Yao Ting took over slightly reluctantly at leftback.
José Luiz Velho in for
Prokop Mottl was Grilled's half-time switch, and one which didn't pay immediate dividends, as Cats United began to piece things together. They would record their only shot on goal, and a very good one at that, when veteran Khaw Long Ze freed Lee Ping Min with an outside pass in the 59th, after Velho's miss. Lee did everything right with his sharp change of target to the inside post, but reserve goalkeeper
Dan Seng somehow reacted in time with his trailing foot.
Chan Ze Han then earned a penalty for the Birds after looking for it, and
Cyril Künzler took over, smashing it in calmly. A three-goal lead was enough for Yuta to be taken off as a precaution, with
Rashid bin Ahmad making an appearance.
Iman Eshrafi would complete his hat-trick the very next minute with
Mohammad Ramli Saliman again providing, this time after filtering wide right.
Next in was
Tian Yonghang for Saliman, which only confused the Cats further with Tian's new perspective. He was surprisingly willing to take players on, and although not always successful, this was enough to spark a few extra breakthroughs. For example, it worked in the 72nd minute, and the space opened was sufficient for
Kalki Parvathaneni to follow up and score coming up from the middle.
There would be one final goal in the 77th, after
Rashid bin Ahmad seemed to have wasted an indirect free-kick, by playing it right at Terence Chiu. Fortunately for him, Chiu didn't quite know what to make of it either, and from his ensuing puzzling touch,
Chu Xin Lee ended up in exactly the right spot to beat Aw with a first-time take.
