Avengers Assembled
Parvathaneni's Efforts Wasted
Former Bulgarian national cupwinners Dark Avenger opened their The Global Trophy journey against Grilled, and came from behind to secure a useful 4-2 win. Few were probably as let down as
Kalki Parvathaneni, who absolutely owned the first half-hour, floating on the right. Unfortunately, his comrades failed to reach his considerable heights, and the lack of compatibility told.
Currently rebuilding in the third division, Avengers had a lot riding on 32 year-old captain Boris Chernev, currently chasing his hundredth goal with the club. The visitors knew what was coming after he shook
Yuki Irie off after Mario Nazarov's slide-rule pass from the touchline, and Chernev lived up to expectations with his practised taking-out of
Valentin Batâr.
The previous sixteen minutes had been more fairly divided than that sequence might have suggested, though; in fact, the yello-clad Avengers had spent more time in their own territory than Grilled's, and
Kalki Parvathaneni had been put clean through by
Cyril Künzler as early as the sixth minute. Unlike Batâr, former international custodian Oğuzhan Karabaş refused to be drawn in, and threw out a leg to deny Parvathaneni's attempt.
Parvathaneni kept on doing his thing for that, and had it not been for Yetvart Dartanyan, Avengers might have found themselves in much more trouble than they were. The Indian forward's pace could not be kept shuttered for long, despite Dartanyan's experience, and there was no stopping Parvathaneni's wild rush with the ball in the 26th minute. It was mostly a question of whether he could sort his feet out in time, which he did.
The motivated Number 37 didn't let the equaliser go to his head, and would sneak another grounder past Karabaş just two minutes after that. The Birds were clearly on top now, and Avengers were relieved to watch
Moey Xin Seng pump it over, after he had done all the hard work of setting himself up. They would at least put the stoppage from
Florus Romijn's messy foul on Nazarov to good use, and got to half-time without conceding further.
It was glaringly obvious that Parvathaneni was the key to Grilled's fortunes, and some reshuffling saw Stoyan Milushev assigned to stick to him like a leech. This was more effective than most would have dared hope, and Milushev even found himself with the wherewithal to shoot, after a sustained siege saw the Birds hemmed deep inside their own half. Batâr should probably have done better against the hard but not unexpected take.
Having found Grilled's weakness, Dark Avengers pressed it strongly, as
Yuki Irie was found wanting more than once. It was
Yuta Nakakita who led directly to Chernev's second, though, as he decided to try and rush Angel Hristodorov down from an inferior starting position. Yuta had overestimated his speed, as it turned out, and Hristodorov obligingly tapped it ahead to his now-unmarked captain.
With Avengers now in control, it was up to the Birds to find an answer, and Noubaryan's remedy was to get
Chu Xin Lee on for
Neeraj Muthyala. Chu was indeed more willing to take risks, and he had a large part to play in the build-up to
Islom Davlatov's screamer several minutes on. Stoev rescued his goalie then, as
Hoàng Trung Quá waited impatiently by the side.
Yuki Irie might not have been at his more effective this day, but his departure nevertheless threw the Grilled backline into a fatal flux. Hoàng had yet to get his bearings as Avengers again advanced relentlessly through Hristodorov, and he was nowhere to be found when Iliya Mihalev threw himself at the cross spectacularly; in his defence, not many could have expected such a glorious strike.
Hoàng fared rather better against Mario Nazarov, even if the wingman nearly found the net with his rushed lob anyway. Finding a way back was another thing altogether, and while
Iman Eshrafi brought a new dimension to Grilled's fading attack, it wasn't enough to salvage the day.
