Sim™ 1 - 7 Grilled Birds
Simply Done
Dutch Fiver
Sentosa side Sim put up oddly lethargic resistance against a serious Grilled team, and went down 1-7 without too much of a fight in front of a near-full stadium which spelt a near half-million dollar payday for both participants. This also marked the first time Rotteveel had scored five in a match since the first round of the Cup against Fishwhiskers United three seasons back, and only the third time he has achieved the feat for Grilled, with the other occasion being against White Elephants, also in the first round of the Cup.
The hosts had been proven to have a formidable midfield in previous matches, and Grilled were prepared to counter on the break if necessary. It was thus something of a surprise when they put out two 19 year-old trainees and journeyman Franck Précigout, who all have some way to go to matching up with the likes of Han Kok.
The warning signs were clear when Jianyong came through on the left side as the Sim midfield got spread all over, and tested backup Norwegian goalie Christian Kristensen. Sim nearly transformed that into a blessing as Kristensen's huge kick was headed on to Précigout, but the Frenchman found Valdir in similarly inspired form.
Fan Chuancheng got an assist in the thirteenth minute, making space with a few shakes before arcing the ball over into the box. Nobody went up to Rotteveel as he sprang towards the cross, and of course he unerringly broke the deadlock. Rotteveel didn't have long to wait for his second either, as Jianyong was given a hand in the face as he weaved past a defender in the penalty box.
Zulkiflee bin Othman made it two goals in as many Cup games as he rushed at a disoriented Sim backline wilting under sustained pressure from Grilled's midfielders, but Rotteveel then revealed that he was not flawless as he got too casual in applying the finishing touch after going past Kristensen. He rolled the ball towards goal thinking that it was certain, only to see a combative Marco Ravagnin hurry back to hook it away.
Grilled were cruising to victory, and lowered the tempo for much of the game after that. Zulkiflee injected some urgency and was carded when he took down a dallying opponent, but Grilled only really woke up after Árva danced around a harmless pass and allowed Sim captain Filipe Brito to spoil Valdir's clean sheet.
This provoked an instant response of four goals in four minutes, three of them by Rotteveel and one by Han Kok. A less-than-happy day for the hosts became worse when Ravagnin was booked for petulance, before backup goalie Kristensen was caught in the leg when going for a high ball, which did at least show the manager's foresight in keeping regular goalie Fredrik Edvinsson out of the fray.
