Mahatma Enlightenment
Lupatti Lesson
It's not every day that Grilled Birds gets to lock horns with former world champions, but the opportunity would present itself today, with Indian I-League leaders Mahatma Memorial drawn to play them in the final World Battle round. Neither were anywhere near contention, with both having lost three matchups already, but the Birds were for one eager to savour this rare opportunity.
Little should need to be said about Mahatma Memorial's achievements; apart from the Hattrick Masters trophy, they have won five Indian Cups - including the latest edition, ten I-League titles, and the Heroes of 2013 tournament, surely a haul that few clubs in the world can boast of. The dedication and ruthlessness of their board towards victory has been recognized to be near unparalleled, and their recent elevation of Italian goalkeeper Uzi Kristal to player-coach proved to be yet another masterstroke. There is surely no space in Memorial's squad for fat, which would be reflected in their selection today.
Being fellow national cupwinners and league leaders, Grilled were not about to be unduly intimidated, and they would go for a narrow 2-5-3 once more with
Salah Kamel and
Chu Xin Lee tucking in.
Vikram Mudaliar would have to be content with the bench, however, and
Mateja Jeftić got the nod over
Bhavya Panigrahi at the back.
The odds remained weighted against the Birds, according to the bookmakers, but it would have been hard to discern for most attendees in the initial going. The famously tactically-flexible Memorial would settle into a 4-4-2 soon after kick-off, and while it would hold fairly comfortably against Grilled's pushes, they also presented very little threat to
Massoud Dob's goal for the first half-hour. The best chance in this period would fall to
Kalki Parvathaneni off Kamel's cross to the near post, but the Number Ten couldn't connect cleanly under Lampis Chloros' watch.
The former German international defender would be on the ball once more in the 30th minute, as he brutally but legally halted
Chu Xin Lee's dash on goal. That led into Memorial's first serious attack on the counter, and from how exactly it was executed, it could be understood why they were in no hurry to impose themselves. The slight space left behind Grilled's right would be instantly exploited by Jeroslavas Tamoševičius, and Ruu Kannosto would flash through on the overlap to slam the opener past Dob.
Grilled wouldn't let that setback get them down, and replied in the very next minute, as their dynamic frontline eventually proved too much for even Memorial's back four. Although it hadn't gone well enough for Grilled's forwards before this, the raw pace of Kalki and
Bernie Egan nonetheless commanded a healthy respect from the Memorial backs, and it was the latter who completely ripped past Bastian Kalkowski to equalize.
The Birds might well have gone in front on their next attempt, but Kalki's rocket would ping off the crossbar after beating Kristal. Instead, it would be Memorial who got their second goal, if not without some controversy. There appeared to be very little in
Gilbert Webb's tap on Arthur Stéphan in the 38th minute, and the Swiss striker stayed up to his credit, only for referee Avel Robbins to point to the spot. A conference with his linesman wouldn't change his mind, and Alfonso Lupatti expertly planted the penalty into the bottom left.
Moey Xin Seng would nearly level again after that, as he whipped a drive at Kristal's right post with lethal intent in the 39th, only for it to be met by Lupatti's foot. The Italian centreback would received a thankful pat on the back for that by his goalkeeper. The match would pick up slowly after the restart, though Grilled would eventually start getting shots in, and it would be Kristal to bail a teammate out in the 63rd minute, after Lampis Chloros had been outfoxed by
Chan Ze Han's slippery turns.
Heng Dong Chu would be brought on to try and add some spice to Grilled's left wing, and although he would again fare quite favourably as a supersub, Memorial would up their lead to 1-3 in short order, as they countered
Chan Ze Han's blocked effort in the 71st minute. Ruu Kannosto had made sure to make the most of Heng finding his feet on the right, and Bastian Kalkowski scooped it home with
Massoud Dob getting a touch.
Grilled still had an appetite for the game, though, and
Moey Xin Seng's continued toil would win them a free-kick about ten yards outside the penalty area.
Mateja Jeftić took a very long run-up for this, and the exaggeration would be backed up with a blast that cleared the wall, and was only blocked with great difficulty by Kristal's leap.
Kalki Parvathaneni had followed it up by the book, fortunately for the Birds, and he would nick it into the net before anybody else caught up.
A draw seemed far from unlikely as Grilled showed no signs of flagging going into the final ten minutes, but they would be disappointed when Kalkowski's last-ditch tackle in the box on
Bernie Egan - which looked a far more clear-cut foul than Webb's early on - was greeted with nothing but a shake of the head by the referee. To rub it in, Kalkowski sprayed it directly through the middle for an early-breaking Lupatti, who made it 2-4 after a godly first touch.
Kristal would stop another good strike by Moey as Memorial began to withdraw in earnest, and the Indian champions would not face any further issues despite
Bilal Mohammad Harun and
Bhavya Panigrahi reinforcing the Birds.
