Four Straight Losses
Ãrva Suspended
Grilled slumped to four straight league defeats for the first time in fifteen seasons, as they were outplayed 1-3 by seluraralc, who needed victory to avoid automatic relegation. Despite clearly being out to conserve energy, Grilled's five-man defense did their job in the first half and they even managed to claim the lead, but seluraralc were stronger after the break and won the game handily.
As Subri sat out the match for his sixth yellow card of the season, Grilled opted to play Rotteveel as a lone striker, while being supported by four in midfield.
Ciro Penati would be the Dutchman's main source of support, but the Italian could have scored on his own had he been more alert in the second minute. The incalculable Árva tried a strange volley that was somewhere between a pass and a shot, that came off a seluraralc defender and landed kindly for Penati. The young winger was too hurried, unfortunately, and his first touch put the ball behind for a goal kick.
Penati had another chance two minutes later, as Rotteveel sent a slide-rule pass that Penati happily chased down. With the last man slipping up, it looked as if Penati just had to score, but he was forced too wide by Luns and ended up putting his shot into the side-netting.
Penati continued to work hard, however, but found little reward for more than half an hour. Denied twice of a goal, he would not even have the reward of an assist after he crossed low and fast to a waiting
Dani Spirig. The Swiss midfielder should really have just hammered it hard, but he opted for a classy chip that would have been brilliant had it been several metres further to the right.
Grilled finally got the breakthrough they craved, as Han Kok counterattacked down the left and saw Talib racing madly up in support down the other flank. The ex-international used his great eye for a pass to pick out the moving target, and the Pakistani defender repaid that faith by blasting the ball across Luns into the far end of his goal.
It was a goal that wasn't celebrated too wildly by the home support, though, as the result of the game was meaningless in the greater scheme of things - to Grilled at least. The visitors had a much better reason to win the game, and although the Warriors were doing their part to help by getting three against L1verpool by half-time, seluraralc still required at least a draw to avoid going down on goal difference.
Their determination shone through straight from the restart, as Siedhoff nearly surprised Rotteveel by lunging at the ball right from the kick-off. seluraralc began to dominate the game physically, and not always acceptably as the yellow card given to Mario Chambordon for his clunky hack at MacKinnon indicated.
seluraralc got the equaliser they so needed in the 55th minute, as wide player Alfio Santamaria sailed in the air to meet up with a delicious cross from the opposite wing by the transfer-listed Chaussepied. Both Sid and Lik-Tsun attempted to stop the header, but Santamaria was simply head and shoulders above them as he nodded precisely into the bottom corner.
This was a great response to the news that L1verpool had pulled one back, and seluraralc were determined to make sure of their survival by pressing forward, instead of sitting on the draw. That had its dangers as Rotteveel appeared well poised to reclaim the lead for Grilled as he strode unguarded down the left, but good recovery pace by Turnherr forced an early shot that rolled unimpressively wide.
Brandão's goal did trigger a change in the visitors' tactics, though, as they could not hope to better their goal difference by a significant extent anyhow. Their Malaysian coach Qiu Jiun-Nan was seen signalling furiously for the wingers to tuck in and help out in defence, though for a moment it appeared that it might be the wrong decision as Grilled regained the initiative.
The visiting fans let out a loud cheer as Chaussepied made it 1-3 as Grilled's backline somehow fell apart, but the home fans were probably more annoyed by
Zoltán Árva's reckless challenge after that. Given that the scoreline made completely no difference, conceding an extra goal would have been well worth being available for the qualifier next week. Santamaria was the unlucky victim, and he might likewise miss seluraralc's qualifier due to the ankle injury suffered. A lose-lose situation for both clubs indeed.
