NK ZG 3 - 5 Grilled Birds
NK ZG Rollercoaster
Scenes At The Death
Zagreb-based NK ZG might not be doing well in the league, as they currently hold up the Croatian II.2 with just four points, but they remained a good enough side to take Grilled Birds all the way in today's World Battle matchup. They have been riven with injuries, with first-choice goalkeeper Hrvoje Mreka for example out for a month already with a recurring ankle concern, though Portuguese head coach Alexandro Semedo has been doing his best to refresh an ageing squad; former Nigerian international centreback Douglas Egobia has to be nearing the end of a fruitful career at 35, for instance, while star winger Marino Pačak, capped eleven times for the national youth team, is but about three years younger.
This did still make for a formidable unit when most of NK ZG's pieces were on song, only there was scant evidence of that in the initial going, with them yielding far too much room - and perhaps respect - to the Singaporeans.
Heng Dong Chu was being tried out on the right, as to whether he could handle the modern cutting-inside style, and he proved more than adequate coming across Leander Guibert in the sixth minute. Egobia had to cover considering that it was on Heng's strong left foot, but that left acres of space for
Bernie Egan to attack, and Heng turned it into a sensible assist.
NK ZG did get over their early reticence soon enough, and with homegrown box-to-box midfielder Slavko Vrtodušić exerting himself, they stabilized midfield to a large extent. Not quite enough to keep Grilled from convincing the referee to award a soft free-kick in the 27th minute, but that backfired as
Vikram Mudaliar got carded for elbowing Egobia in the jostling for position. The Croats would be able to get on the offensive afterwards, and had Pačak get on the end of a delicious low cross by skipper Péter Kerepeczki, with his subtle lift taking it over
Jānis Salmiņš for 1-1.
They would go ahead four minutes later from working the full width of the pitch, with Heng's ever-present defensive shortcomings shown up against Pačak, who turned provider with a sweet delayed final ball for Leander Guibert to blast in at the near post. It was not Salmiņš' best moment, but thankfully short-lived, as
Chan Ze Han had Grilled back level with a technically-excellent header from Heng's rebuttal at the other end.
The Birds would emerge the stronger for their brief setback in the second half, but their firing on all cylinders would take some time to have an effect.
Salah Kamel drove a breathtaking thirty-yard strike barely wide with Iranian backup keeper Mehrzad Aminkhani rooted, and soon after
Sølve Lunde took over from
Douglas Carapaica with a brief to push play upfield,
Chan Ze Han danced past two defenders, and rolled his finish bang-on to the goalpost.
It was coming, however, and after veteran forward Branislav Mujagić went in late on Heng - not seemingly out of any malice - Heng would have the presence of mind to take the free-kick immediately, which
Chu Xin Lee just about met at the far post. Sensing that NK ZG were flagging, the Birds kept on pressing for another, and Chan would force his way down the right side as much through sheer will as anything. He stayed on his feet against a Miran Petrić tackle that most forwards would probably have tried to milk a penalty out of, and had his reward with a clean hit bulging the back of the net.
NK ZG were not done by any means, and their own centre forward Mario Rimaj would get another back, from more fine dribbling by Kerepeczki against Kamel on their right wing. A late draw seemed more than a distinct possibility, but it was Grilled who added to their lead in injury time instead, as their opponents committed far too many assets in attack. Mujagić would moreover be sent off for his second yellow for taking Mudaliar down after his shot had been taken, not that it mattered at this point.
