Barbababa Bested
Second-Half Yawn
Grilled spent May Day with Finnish Division Eight side Barbababa, and cruised to a 1-3 win in a rather uneventful game. Faced with an orthodox 4-4-2, Grilled pushed hard early and sat back after procuring a two-goal cushion - this went down okay with the easy-going home fans, who spent about as much time chatting with each other as watching the game.
Possession was about even, as Barbababa's Petri Kupari and Fermín Moral made a good old-and-young, local-and-foreign tandem in midfield. Barbababa's problem was that Grilled had their ex-international goalie Abed-Sulaiman between the sticks, a fact that had the scowling Egyptian giving autographs an hour before the game began, and no doubt had some effect on Barbababa's shots on goal.
Grilled had no such concerns, and
Ulf Hjortlind got the ball past Barbababa's French goalkeeper Cédric Houeix with a straightforward power shot right down the middle. Soon after, bin Yaacob blazed inside after receiving a long pass on the right flank and struck confidently to make it 2-0.
The home fans showed their support when Swiss teen Severin Kraushofer bravely went for a loose ball in the six-yard box after Frid Lautala's dribble was stopped by Alcántara. A lesser forward would have pulled out seeing the big Bona flying in two-footed at the ball, but Kraushofer had not been free-scoring in a professional league because of timidity; Gritting his teeth, he cast his lot in and reached the ball just before Bona, leaving even Sulaiman helpless.
The celebrations had barely stopped when Grilled swung into action, with
Allan Ødegaard winning some grudging applause for his graceful midair volley that Houeix could only push into his own net.
The second half was something of a bore, as Grilled's young midfielders tired physically and mentally, being reduced to breaking up Barbababa's attacking play. There was little of note bar Petri Kupari's excellent overhead kick early on, executed with a flexibility belying his age. Sulaiman was equal to that, though, stopping it acrobatically just in time.
