Humbled Twice
No Luck Yet
Grilled's already-fragile confidence took another beating as they succumbed two-nil to a very strong Arrogancae midfield, which had national midfielder Pan Dawei pulling the strings. While that was certainly not a result to be proud of, it was still probably an improvement on last week's home defeat.
As he had hinted at, Grilled coach
Han Lik-Tsun set the side up defensively, with winger
Ciro Penati sacrificed for some extra heft by the 37 year-old
Quah Han Kok. Mohd Safri was returned to the first team as he lined up alongside
Chow Ying Lee, but this much-anticipated combination would have to wait for its maiden goal, as the Birds had no answer to Arrogancae's overwhelming possession style of football.
The hosts threw caution to the wind with a gung-ho 2-5-3 formation, which they were certainly entitled to deploy, given the way Bălan and Vuokila backed Dawei up in the middle. With Grilled's defence chasing the ball doggedly, Finnish midfielder Vuokila spotted a gap and charged through in the fifteenth minute before sending a stylish lob just out of Valdir's reach.
Despite being overrun, the Birds won some plaudits from their travelling fans with some canny ploys when they did receive the ball up front. Behr played his way out of defence with assurance in the nineteenth minute, looked up, and spotted Bögengang making a run for it. The long pass beat the offside trap, Bögengang stopped the ball and threw Rupieper off, but shot straight at Platschka.
There had not been much end product from Grilled's young forward stars, as they were generally shackled by the far greater experience of Arrogancae's defenders;
Chow Ying Lee showed that he still had much to learn when he appeared to have the much older Arrogancae player-coach Cornelus van Schie on the ropes after a timely sidewards pass by Bögengang, but was the one left begging as van Schie stuck a leg out with utmost precision.
It was then Grilled's turn to feel the heat as none of their players felt up to stopping undisputed Arrogancae lynchpin Dawei, who had the free run of the Grilled half right up to the penalty area. Finally, Mausisa launched himself into a last-ditch block that appeared to deflect the shot barely over the crossbar. Despite Dawei's protestations, no corner was given.
Several of Grilled's midfielders were clearly struggling by half-time, with
Erik Back and
Quah Han Kok highly winded.
Anders Josefsson was given his league debut as a substitute, while
Kyou-Chull Kim too came on. Unfortunately, they made little to no difference, as the home side continued dominating, and only a reaction save from Valdir kept Vuokila from getting a brace.
Yvan Lefébure, who returned after his red card against CharlesCheesePie after some stellar performances in training, continued to establish himself as a player opposition fans love to hate; the Frenchman actually had a rather good game overall, given Grilled's limitations, but marred it with a dirty stomp at Dawei which really riled up the terraces. He then compounded it by refusing to acknowledge his yellow card.
To Grilled's credit, the home fans didn't breathe easily until the very end, as the Birds kept the deficit to a single goal and always looked a plausible threat if Arrogance overcommitted. Only Caín Falero's 86th minute goal, chalked up to his own effort, finally put the outcome to rest.
