Plentiful Piki
Quiet Game
An impressively large crowd of over nine thousand at Grilled's friendly against Lithuanian Division Two club Ciki Piki was not matched by the two sides' lukewarm display on the pitch, which was decided by two bits of excellent finishing in a match of few chances.
Piki lined up in a very consevative 5-3-2 that did not capture the imagination, though some overlapping runs by wingback Klemensas Eisenas assisted by midfield star Nicolas Rodríguez on their stronger right flank caught the eye. Despite that, Grilled struck first and early to the disappointment of the home fans, as young striker
Mohd Firdaus bin Yaacob lost himself in the mass of defenders until a partially-blocked pass dripped through for a classic poacher's goal.
Grilled had one more good effort from Lim Chan Jing's flying kick, but thereafter the host's defence proved too much for Grilled to breach. The hosts were good at waiting for opportunities to launch long balls from defence, but sadly their strike duo of Sergijus Zelmikas and Leonid Gratevich were not up to scratch.
It would have stayed at that one goal had Subri not shown his class nine minutes into the second half, building on good work from Ødegaard down the left. The nippy Norwegian winger raised his stock yet another fraction as he outsped Eisenas to deliver a telling knock-on that Subri made into an easy goal with a magical first touch.
Piki's only other scare was off a badly placed pass by Spanish central defender Carlos Mingo Muñoz, who thought a teammate was where Firdaus was standing. Firdaus was unable to replicate his earlier coolness, however, and dithered too long before ineffectually poking the ball straight at goalkeeper Faustas Morinas.
