No Letoff
Siwczak Ungenerous
There was not to be even a single consolation point from The Global Trophy for Grilled, as Polish fifth division side 20PPZK carved out a win through Julian Siwczak late on. This was nearly enough to take them to the knockout stage, after Dark Avenger bested Magik 1-0, but 20PPZK would eventually miss out on goal difference after all.
Their pride badly stung by Borussia 09 Glauch, Grilled were after a cleansing here, and there was perhaps none more eager than
Kalki Parvathaneni. Dismissed for violent play then, he was determined to express himself correctly this time, and gave over to the most basic trick in the book in the second minute - pushing it and running. Had canny Swedish centreback Kenneth Holman not been on his toes, it might well have worked.
While they were much improved in most areas, the Birds' defence sadly still left much to be desired. There was no communication when Wit Kaptur shifted slowly up the left in the tenth minute, and
Yuta Nakakita left the incoming pass, expecting
Yuki Irie to have it covered. Kim Tranman had rotated right behind him, though, and gobbled the chance up before
Valentin Batâr could react.
Barring that mishap, it was actually Grilled who dictated most of the half. Parvathaneni's better face was in attendance, as he worked the channels with dizzying intensity, and he shaved the bar with his 17th minute curler. A while later,
Yuki Irie was found a ways from his usual post, and was chosen by
Florus Romijn to strike. It took all of Tadeusz Brańczak's considerable reach, to keep 20PPZK ahead.
The Poles stabilized the match following that, and the remainder of the half was a bore in contrast. Sławomir Szklarczyk would only very slowly return his stance to an attacking one, and he would be found sweeping in from the right, some ten minutes into the next half.
Moey Xin Seng's punctual intervention threw him slightly off, which was enough for the shot to go begging.
Grilled's prior aura was certainly fading, despite that escape, and it took two substitutions to arrest their decline.
Chu Xin Lee's free-ranging style did the Birds a world of good, and he would find himself linking up with
Islom Davlatov excellently. It wasn't long before Arnold Januszek dedicated himself to shutting Chu down.
Officially back on the warpath, the Birds would take their opponents on at their own game, with Chu swinging out wide to duel Wit Kaptur in the 72nd. Unused to Chu's antics, Kaptur allowed him to progress on the inside, which opened an avenue for
Cyril Künzler to equalise, thanks to Januszek being likewise unsettled.
Grilled appeared to be well on the way towards reversing it, with Holman forced into a professional foul on Davlatov a few minutes later. Künzler hit the free-kick right into the wall, however, and 20PPZK were instantly at Grilled's throat, with Tranman skinning
Yuta Nakakita thoroughly with a polished stepover. Batâr pushed the first attempt aside, but Tranman had the presence of mind to tee it ten yards back for Julian Siwczak, who blasted home without further thought.
