Kaganat Nutting
Mirchev Consolation
Grilled's reserves were completely demolished by Kyrgyzstan Division Two side Kaganat, in front of over 5000 animated fans at their 50000-seater Borbor Arena. A loss was not surprising given that
Sandy Edmond was the only Grilled first-teamer to get a run-out for match fitness, and even then he was played out of position in central midfield.
The flow of the game was determined very early on, as hardworking young winger Timur Chukhontsev, already with four league goals to his credit this season, circled past a woefully unfit Alcántara and knocked a second-minute goal in. 20 year-old Uluk Rustamov should have likewise scored, but the tall forward couldn't keep his balance under pressure from Seng-Huat, and lofted his shot over.
That wouldn't stop Kaganat from ripping through Grilled's makeshift defence twice more in the half, as Samaganov beat Bao-Tam with an angled header, before Fjällbratt was careless and showed too much of the ball to Islam Ilyaz Uulu, who promptly nicked it away from him and powered away for an easy conversion.
Grilled's Bulgarian midfielder
Ivaylo Mirchev saved some face for his side by displaying a deft touch to make a chance from almost nothing, after Chowdhury relayed the ball to him expecting to get it back. Mirchev instead steadied himself and placed a lob straight into the far top corner, soundly past Nazbek Topchubayev.
That was a temporary respite, as Rustamov came good after Chukhontsev again made Alcántara look slow down the right flank. Islam Ilyaz Uulu would get a late hat-trick as he scored in the 72nd and 87th minutes, either side of a Yaroslav Ortyakov brace as the experienced playmaker knew just the right times to push upfield.
The ending of an otherwise cultured match was blemished slightly as Kaganat's Brazillian defender Ricardinho Touro made a rather unnecessary studs-first tackle on Hjortlind, who fortunately had the presence of mind to leap over it. Grilled were not exactly angels either, as Tuan-Mu got away with a knee to Samaganov's shin that saw the big striker stretchered off.
