Twenty Two Share
One Each
The Birds eased some of the heat on head coach
Han Lik-Tsun by nabbing a credible draw with third-placed Twenty2 FC, but the attendance of just over 30000, less than half the capacity of The Cooking Pot, suggests that it will take more than that to mollify the indifferent supporters.
Still without
Nawaz Talib, who failed a late fitness test, and also without Rotteveel, who was withdrawn as a precaution, Grilled elected to play it safe and set their midfield up right in front of the defence to provide extra protection for Han.
This was an obvious invitation for Twenty2 to pour forward, and defender Wout Putter sent a free-kick into the bar as a warm-up. This set the tone for much of the half, with the visitors controlling the direction of the game. Grilled dealt efficiently with most of their attacks, though, and efforts from Jussi Somero and Yiorgos Mpistis didn't overly trouble Valdir.
Grilled then had a great spell around the half-hour mark, and
Domenik Bögengang should have gotten his first goal for his new club after Árva dropped a laser-guided ball right between him and the reserve Twenty2 goalie, Kwa Feng Wai.
Bögengang should have done much better against Kwa, as the inexperienced 18 year-old was certainly a few notches below Twenty2 regular Pablo Tapia, injured in their midweek Cup loss to seluraralc; However, what Kwa lacked in positioning, he made up for in speed, and got his fingertips to the German forward's chip.
Grilled were encouraged to test the unsure Kwa, and
Ciro Penati provided a golden opportunity when he razed a path down the right and delivered a searching cross across the six-yard box. Kwa indeed flapped at it and missed, but so did
Ronny Behr, who only needed to meet it cleanly to get it in.
Twenty2 FC revised their gameplan in the second half, and became more cautious in their build-ups. While this limited their chances to two, both saved well by Valdir, it also gave the Birds next to no openings, earning scattered boos from both sets of fans.
Ivaylo Mirchev deserved a mention as he covered every blade of grass on the pitch in his first league start of the season, for very little reward. His contribution was not overlooked, however, and his bad fall late in the game prompted much hair-ruffling by his teammates.
