Yellow Peril
Mighty Maikel
Concerns over Grilled's competitiveness were thoroughly dispelled after they crushed last season's runners-up Yellow Buggies four-nil in the opening match of the new season, while
Maikel Rotteveel broadcast that he was still The Man with a hat-trick.
The Buggies had recently-signed rightback Sergey Dosaev to bolster their defence, but sorely missed the departed duo of Ehud Ozer and Gil Amdurski, despite some interesting decisions made by the unpredictable pair. As it was, neither Dosaev nor Alexandru Petre in the Buggies goal could do much about Rotteveel's blasted third-minute free-kick.
The Cooking Pot had barely finished celebrating when
Ciro Penati was held back just outside the box by Turkish winger Bartuğ Yöne, whose tracking back was exemplary. Unfortunately, Rotteveel was on fire, and despite Petre's best efforts the Dutchman bent it magnificently in at the far post.
This wasn't how it was supposed to go for the visitors, who looked disoriented as they wilted under an onslaught of roars from the expectant crowd. All eyes were on Mohd Safri as he picked up the ball in midfield, and few expected him to expertly reverse the ball to Talib despite having a decent line to goal. The Pakistani repaid his young teammate's faith by slotting in his first league goal in three seasons.
It was old times again as the soon-to-be 35 year-old Rotteveel danced with the ball at his feet and killed the flat Buggies backline with sheer pace, even if he did seem a step slower than his prime. There was little to pick on his finishing, as he drew Petre out before rolling it in for his 23rd career hat-trick for the Birds.
The downcast visiting support had reason to fear a complete wipeout as all this happened before a quarter of the match had gone, but their team regrouped and began to keep things simple, with an eye on preventing further goals as top priority.
This kept Grilled at bay for the rest of the first half, and the Buggies didn't budge in the second despite their beefy forward line of Eulálio Tiago and Serban Pãdure yelling for the ball. Tiago eventually lost his cool after Behr beat him in the air yet again, and his ill-tempered shove into the English defender's back didn't go unnoticed, resulting in a yellow card.
