Giro Deduction
Ulf Downed
French Division Five side Girondins de banlieue hosted Grilled in front of nearly 6400 curious onlookers at Parc Arthur, and eked out a satisfying 5-1 victory in their all-blue kit, distinguished by a white V-neck.
The French side had had an impressive season, with only two losses in their 22 games so far - one in the Cup, and one in a friendly, and moreover both by a one-goal margin. While local lad Iba Gadiaga hadn't been instrumental in most of those, he was clinical enough against Grilled, nicking a nice goal past Bao-Tam in the 14th minute.
Gadiaga didn't forget to celebrate with provider Jimmy Biot, who continued by forcing Tharmini into a bad tackle that got the Singaporean carded.
Girondins midfielder Tarek Radhouani then went from villian to valorous in an instant, as his dallying on the ball allowed Mohd Firdaus to steal in and have a one-on-one with his goalie Juan Miguel Malherbe, who saved Tarek's blushes by saving. Radhouani didn't spend any time wallowing in disgust, and within seconds was at the other end of the pitch, rising to head a cross in.
Grilled lost their cool after that goal, and Italian Giuseppe Malavasi and Turkish Deniz Üçgül doubled Girondins' lead in the next few minutes, the former with a fiery strike, and the second with a penalty that he lifted into the top left corner. It could have been worse but for Gadiaga's poor composure after a reverse pass from Malavasi, and a good take by Bao-Tam from Radhouani.
The hosts cooled off in the second half, perhaps out of courtesy, though they replaced defender Włodzimierz Krakowczyk with Finnish star Tuukka Nordqvist on the hour, for Nordqvist to stretch his legs.
Ironically, that coincided with the Birds' best slice of the match, as Firdaus won some cheers with a superb effort that was destined for goal, quite magnificently saved by Nicolas Ridoux. Ridoux was then clattered by Nordqvist in collecting a Grilled lob into his area, and replacement keeper Juan Miguel Malherbe soon had to pick the ball out of his net, courtesy of Hjortlind's cool finish.
Üçgül then converted Girondin's second penalty of the game, which was hotly protested by the Grilled defenders, who felt that Gadiaga had made a meal of his contact with Seng-Huat. Üçgül then further increased the sense of injustice when he sent Hjortlind off injured with a wild lunge, and substitute
Tim Hobson expressed his unhappiness by kicking the ball into the crowd. Both Üçgül and Hobson were booked.
