Bestrode In Style
That Giant Chan
Chan Ze Han presented a sample of what might be to come, in this Penalty-Killer Cup quarterfinals versus Swiss Division Six leaders Corinthians Cearense, with another of his hat-tricks. Having smashed FC United Zürich 5-0 at the cost of a minor injury to Mattia Bottani in their latest league match, the Corinthians kept Grilled tight in their sides through the first half an hour - but then came Birds skipper Chan, to turn the lights out.
On paper at least, Corinthians had a midfield well worthy of slugging it out with the Birds, and they had in forward Alex Del Piero a clear advantage at left forward against makeshift defender
Hwang Teck Fu. The match would then hinge on whether Grilled could take the match to their opponents before being seriously threatened themselves, and
Chad Thach answered that call with an instinctive volley to the top right corner of Ian Sommer's goal in the ninth minute, where few had even expected the attempt.
It was hard to put much responsibility on Sommer for that glorious opener, and it was again his back three that had much to answer for, when
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan again came calling down the right flank 17 minutes in; João Cancelo was late in picking up
Chan Ze Han's beckoning run, which turned out to be irrecoverable. That two-goal lead would shortly be cut down to one, at least, with Venezuelan midfielder Tomás Rincón going the wide route too for once, and getting an open path towards
Dimitris Germanakos - that he finished off with an incredibly-clever disguised chip.
Well, the fans could not complain at the initiative on show, with Grilled eager to attack if only to get the ball away from their own half, and Corinthians being very positive in possession too. The Birds had the numbers in the centre in the 26th minute as
Gandhik Chitre planted a third between Sommer's legs almost by accident, but Denis Zakaria would have it back to 3-2 four minutes later, after Hwang had been pressed into a questionable pass to
Damian Hutter, who was in turn beaten to it by Zakaria.
The Corinthians supporters were probably the louder now, with their team growing more confident by the minute, but there was one man who could squash that sort of thing in an instant.
Chan Ze Han has had countless memorable highlights attached to his name, and he would contribute another to his career reel, as he set off on a slaloming run with Ferzan in tow, straight from the kick-off. Cancelo would eventually decide to stay with
Joe Reece as Chan cut past one defender after another, which would prove fruitless as the 36 year-old proceeded to tuck it past Sommer, with a drive that was just past his reach.
That was a strike to kill Corinthians hopes, and they would never quite recover from that setback; true, they retained quite a bit of the ball themselves, but with a noticeable slant towards safety now, despite having two goals to make up. Grilled on the other hand had little to lose by taking more risks, which paid off in the 58th minute as a penalty was called for a trip on
Mohd Marzuki Khairul. Nobody was going to keep Chan from his hat-trick on the Birds' end, and so it was.
The referee would give something the other way in the next few minutes as
Aw Keng Chuan cut Mario Gavranovic down on a dangerous-looking dribble, but the free-kick was sent over. The pace of the game would then slow perceptibly with first Chan, and then Hutter and Hwang making way for replacements, before one final flare-up in injury time. A fourth seemed on the cards as Chan sized a free-kick up, but he instead lofted it up into the air, and Aw forced a header home from the floater as it took a huge deflection off an unwitting Xherdan Shaqiri.
