Daud Doubt
M, M, M&M
Al-Daud's mixed start to the season went from bad to worse after they were taken apart by an inspired Grilled outfit on home ground. To tell the truth, the West-based sides were not too far apart in quality, and it was only Grilled's assured defence and Al-Daud's correspondingly weaker forward line that made the difference.
A shock 7-0 defeat by Home United FC in the Cup was followed by a walkover against Footwork FC over unpaid wages, and it was safe to say that their players were not in the best frame of mind to face the Birds. Despite that, the home side were surprisingly strong and confident in possession, and they coped well with Grilled for long periods.
Grilled had to resort to feeding on scraps, but Rotteveel has proven to be a master at that over the years; Chancing upon a moment of indecision by Remo Natalicchio, who should have known better, the Dutchman picked his pocket and took the ball around the Al-Daud goalie to open his account for the day.
Al-Daud could have pulled one back as German forward Heinz-Herbert Schmaedel lifted an extraordinary free-kick over the Grilled wall, only to be met by an equally miraculous save from Valdir. Frenquelli had no such luck when Rotteveel's turn came at the other end, as that free-kick went straight through the wall into the other end of his goal.
The home side kept doing everything right in the middle, but couldn't muster up the numbers up front. Grilled in contrast had much more bite, especially down the flanks, where Penati frequently taunted veteran Finnish wingback Žarko Stanković with his evocative feet.
This brought plenty of reaction from the crowd but precious little end product, until the 50th minute when Penati finally decided to just send the ball into the box. Frenquelli commanded his area well and gave the cross a solid punch, but was unprepared for it to come right back at him via Rotteveel, who had his hat-trick in the bag.
Rotteveel then added Number Four after Penati created much disorder in the opposition ranks, which left Al-Daud wondering how they could be so far behind despite matching Grilled in most respects. Argentinean forward Edgar Abregu could have gotten something at least after superb vision from Jean-Pierre Megnet, but skied it horribly high.
