Vilnius Kept Away
Heng Sallies Forth
Grilled Birds would taste tournament victory before their Sunday meeting with Haha, as they defeated Slovakian II.4 side FC Vilnius Hai to help the S-League to World Battle victory; it was a day for the locals, with
Moey Xin Seng particularly inspiring after he had yielded the responsibility of skippering the club to
Chan Ze Han.
FC Vilnius Hai had barely survived the 57th minute dismissal of René Pečenák in the last tournament test, with Syrian second division leaders K U R D I S T A N nearly pulling a last-ditch comeback, but it would be the Slovaks themselves who had to try that today. Pečenák would be left out of their squad due to disciplinary issues, as Tomáš Volárik went for a 3-4-3 characterized by balanced width. It didn't go over too well, and Ivan Fako's clean sheet lasted only four minutes before Moey knocked
Salah Kamel's cross home - a gift from one header connoisseur to another.
The match would calm greatly after that busy start, with Vilnius lynchpins Vladimír Vačok and Melichar Novákovský actually doing quite the job against Grilled's midfield three. They remained largely on the defensive, however, a situation that didn't suit them very well. Fako would save magnificently as
Kalle ter Berg rampaged forward to shoot well in the 30th, but there was just no denying Moey today, as his forehead slammed in a second goal not too long afterwards, off a
Mateja Jeftić corner.
Chan Ze Han would make it three in the very next minute from a combination of almost cookie-cutter simplicity through the Vilnius backline, though this did finally spark a concrete response from Vilnius. Sensing the game slipping away before half-time, they went all-in on the following kick-off, and this boldness paid off with the Birds caught short on numbers. Blahoslav Kriho got to the ball first in the final mad dash, and scythed it into the roof of the net, with
Manuel Vadalà attending in vain.
Grilled weren't done just yet, and they would squeeze in one more before the break. There wasn't too much variation on showcase here, as the Birds kept to what they knew best, which was maneuvering the ball through a crowded middle. Ter Berg did much of the probing, before lifting it forward for
Chu Xin Lee, who had made his incursion from left wing. Some excellent chest control gave Chu the extra yard of space he wanted, and a great right foot met the ball in mid-air for 4-1.
The interval benefitted Vilnius far more, from the looks of things, with Grilled Birds seeming slightly distracted - if for quite understandable reasons. They were hardly good enough to get away with this scot-free against a team of Vilnius' calibre, not when the latter were getting serious.
Neeraj Muthyala had to take Ladislav Slamenec down right before the 68th minute, and somehow escaped being booking, but the free-kick would be floated across the box, and knocked down with precision for Vladimír Vačok's timely finish.
That encouraged
Eren Serpin to let
Heng Dong Chu on to liven Grilled up, with
Chu Xin Lee making way; there would indeed be near-immediate excitement for the Birds, as Heng busted his way past Vilnius captain Juraj Nemilý with something approaching ease, before leaving the ball with Moey - who however passed up on this wonderful hat-trick opportunity, by shooting high. This was swiftly followed by a third reducer by Vilnius, as they swarmed back on the counter, with wingman Mikuláš Varšanský putting the final touch on the heavily-contested assist.
The match could have gotten very interesting indeed, but Grilled Birds would restore a two-goal cushion on their next possession.
Chan Ze Han earned a free-kick on the edge of the box, which would be played around its perimeter, to
Heng Dong Chu on the other side. Heng wasn't shy about taking the shot and would score five minutes after being subbed in, and the coming arrivals of
Bilal Mohammad Harun and
Bhavya Panigrahi would serve to further shore Grilled's defence up.
