Alianza Annihilation
B & B Partnership
The rest week did little to perk up the reserve side, as they headed to Peru for their weekly thrashing. The hosts persisted in playing their usual counterattacking side despite Grilled being none too eager to get forward, but alianza's defence was sturdy enough, and their midfield stingy enough, that tactics didn't matter.
The star of the day was central defender and captain Paulo Bolaños, who was not shy in testing Grilled's backline after a cautious early exchange.
Hu Huihong remained a reluctant wingback, and his failure to track back - again - left Bolaños with a free run into the box. With the other defenders tied down, Bolaños hoofed the ball at Bao-Tam, who obligingly let it through his hands.
Nothing new there as the home side scored with just about every half-threatening attack, as Weider Migone, Joan Lluís Bacardí, August Rahmblom and Bernardo Aristizabal all getting their name up in lights as a noticeably uninterested Grilled side went through the motions. The fact that
Weng Seng-Huat's untidy challenge that was yellow-carded was their only notable contribution spoke volumes about their motivation.
There was no marked improvement in the second half, and winger Bacardí dribbled smartly past Mustaffa Kamal, who had at least been trying hard in an unfamiliar defensive position. The 17 year-old hustled to slide in on Bolaños as the alianza captain sped in on the hour mark, but couldn't quite nick the ball away before Bolaños dinked it into the corner of goal.
Lone striker Rahmblom was then extremely unlucky as what appeared to be a pinpoint shot got a bad bounce off the ground and careened into the woodwork. There's no keeping a good man down, and he made amends soon after with a great drive from a tight angle for 8-0. Bolaños then completed his hat-trick four minutes from time with a massive header, before spurning a fourth goal for himself as he turned a low cross fractionally over.
