Out Of Manamah
Bahrainis Splutter
Having enrolled in the Hattrick global association's latest initiative - division battles that pit clubs of the same level across countries together - the Birds would get their feet wet against Bahrain II.2 club Manamah United Football Club. They were literally wet too, as an unlikely rainstorm somehow hit half an hour before kick-off, but then it was probably to Grilled's advantage, as a Singaporean team.
Not that the hosts were all that at the moment, having lost their first three league games, but Spanish head coach Víctor Varano kept faith with his modified 3-5-2 system. Swiss longtimer, who had cost them nearly S$9.6 million when he arrived as a 25 year-old, skippered them, but the top move and shaker was probably his midfield buddy, the big Bulgar Viktor Dimovski. Manamah also stuck with defending in depth, with their fullbacks staying close to their own penalty area, come whatever may.
That didn't help them much if any, sadly for the home fans, as the space between their backline and midfield soon belonged wholly to Grilled. The Birds had good enough personnel to cover the final yards on their own, as
Moey Xin Seng duly demonstrated after but five minutes, nudging Gildas Miranda out of the way besides. Manamah's protests remained unheard as Grilled stole the ball back immediately after the restart, and again bludgeoned a path through the middle.
Neeraj Muthyala made it 2-0 on that.
Only Dimovski looked at all at home in the intensifying conditions for the hosts, and he alone could hardly stem Grilled's continuous advances.
Bernie Egan went over as he weaved past Luigi Massimo Guerini in the 12th minute, and the Italian certainly wasn't happy at the penalty getting awarded, even though he escaped censure. The conversion was probably tougher than
Bhavya Panigrahi would be given credit for, what with the ball all but floating on the spot, but Grilled's backup taker compensated with extra oomph.
Moey copped his second goal several minutes on, as he lapped up a spilled shot from
Heng Dong Chu, though goalkeeper Mushtaq Kanoo should probably be praised for getting a hand to the initial attempt in the first place. That was about it for the first half, as far as goalmouth action went, with more than a few players looking as if they would rather be anywhere else but this lake-in-making.
The rain would stop as abruptly as it had begun, right on time for the next half, and Manamah hastened to find a way back. Grégoire Meihofer could finally bring most of his vaunted pace to bear, without the wind being against him, and he coasted by Panigrahi almost too easily in the 50th minute, having collected tidily with his first touch. It was
Massoud Dob's turn to curse the weather, as Meihofer half-blinded him following through into a puddle.
They couldn't keep the invention coming, however, and Grilled started to really exploit
Heng Dong Chu's talents down the left side. Heng might have courted plenty of criticism with his underwhelming contributions thus far, but this fifteen-minute spell would hint at his true potential. Aziz Al-Ansari tried to stay on him, but to no avail as he flew in to knock a precise header on for
Gilbert Webb to finish off, after 54 minutes. Heng was at it again with a devastating turn of pace in the 67th, and his long legs ate up ground before releasing
Bernie Egan, for 6-1.
Meihofer tried to reply with another surge, but Dob was first to it; this did contribute to
Yuta Nakakita coming on for Panigrahi in the 80th minute, given how worn-out the defender was becoming.
Islom Davlatov also entered in that double substitution for Muthyala, but without enough time to make much of an impression.
