Cazeux Ruin
Triple Subri
Grilled emerged with a healthy win at Northern club WNBN Architecture, affectionately nicknamed the Cazeux for some obscure reason; they packed nearly sixty thousand into Blij Stadium for the kickoff, and proceeded to set up to hit Grilled on the counter.
That didn't bring the desired effect as Grilled were quick to retreat when required, and after eight minutes
Hu Jianyong got the better of Hungarian wingback Adrián Bethlen on the left. Hu kept the ball in play and sprayed it towards the box, where a botched clearance was eagerly pounced on by Subri. One-nil.
Cazeux had a decent defence for their level, but their well-travelled New Zealand goalie José Moss would soon be beaten again. Italian central defender Stefano Panza pushed the ball too far ahead of himself, and Han Kok brought it wide for Branbilla to come in and rip it past Moss.
A shaken Panza was further subdued after he was yellow carded for taking Subri down, and
Maikel Rotteveel took advantage of that by running between him and his parter Leó Csuhay in the 27th minute. Panza was unwilling to commit, and Csuhay was simply not quick enough, so Rotteveel got his clear run and scored as he often does in such situations.
Subri then lobbed tantalizingly over the bar, before Csuhay plowed his way through midfield and attempted to pick lone striker Robin Swärddahl out with a twenty metre long pass.
Nawaz Talib got a toe onto that and diverted it, preventing what would have been a certainty on the weekly Cup highlight reel.
Jianyong's goal might yet earn some replays on television, as he impressively scooted in from the touchline to an empty spot just inside the box.
Fan Chuancheng saw his friend and rival out of the corner of his eye, and curled the ball to him with the outside of his boot. Jianyong met it with plenty of power, and Moss had no hope of stopping that volley.
Jianyong's momentum carried over into the second half, and he was inches away from getting another goal after a failed attempt to spring the offside trap by Cazeux. The young winger danced past Moss and rolled the ball towards the wide-open goalmouth, but paid for his lack of urgency as Panza leapt in and kept it out, nearly injuring himself in the process.
The hosts finally got the counterattack that they craved as a long clearance went to right winger Pedro Miguel Seabra, and last man
Han Lik-Tsun slipped when trying to turn. Valdir was in a good position to cover, however, and closed in before Seabra could get his bearings.
Cazeux's coach, seeing the game slip away, ordered drastic measures, as Engholm and Seabra were told to stay up, while Gavin Vles and Filipe Pimentel were pushed to stand alongside Swärddahl in a 4-3-3, and finally speedster Loh Yong Tze was thrown on for an exhausted Vles.
None of this made a difference, though, with Huihong delivering his shot slightly wide as Cazeux struggled to adapt, and finally Subri bounced back from his 78th minute booking to complete a very late hat-trick.
