Gorgut Gutted
Mirchev Sprightly
Kazakh Superliga side Dedem Gorgut were dealt a 1-5 loss by Grilled in their international friendly, as Grilled's mix of veterans and youth proved too much for the hosts to handle.
The match was played in good spirits, though the spectators were none too pleased with how Gorgut's defence allowed Mirchev to take up a post just in front of the far post without being played offside. Ødegaard's cross bounced through to the disbelieving Bulgarian forward, who passed it in for one of the easiest finishes he will ever enjoy.
Lee Jie Siong had to do slightly more work for his goal as he harried the ball away from Ibetov, though Swiss goalie Thorsten Woolfenden wasn't far from stopping his solid grounder at all. Mirchev then thumped in number three to groans from the home support as his run from the right was not picked up at all, leaving him the obvious target for Subri's backheel.
Gorgut finally tested
Hang Bao-Tam through their old watercarrier Demyan Kopaliani, who employed his leverage and experience to emerge with the ball despite being sandwiched by both Fjällbratt and Chuan Jing. Kopaliani eventually got the ball back after several probing passes, and would have gotten one back had Hang not put his body behind the shot.
The hosts won some honour back with a determined push right from the restart, and Grilled found themselves swamped at the back post when the final cross came. Spanish midfielder Pablo Bayón was the one who leapt highest to connect with it, and gave Hang no hope with a crashing header from point blank range.
Fjällbratt showed good intelligence to break up a dangerous Gorgut attack in its infancy, though it did cost him a booking. The free-kick was wasted, though, going straight back to
Lee Jie Siong who brought the ball to the edge of the opponents' box. Sensing Ødegaard making his move, Jie Siong rolled the ball just right into the winger's path for him to unleash a stinger straight past Woolfenden.
Subri completed the rout with a glancing header of his own, but Grilled then lost Bao-Tam to a hamstring injury after a particularly powerful goal-kick.
Frank Öhmo was available to keep goal for the rest of the game, but this leaves Grilled without an able deputy for Sulaiman for the time being.
