Fire Smothered
Anders Again
Grilled eased past Soulf1re United in a Cup derby at Aami Park, to set up another all-Jurong contest against Wandering Phoenixes in the next round. While there were concerns that Grilled might find the going tough against the steady Soulf1re midfield, coach
Han Lik-Tsun eliminated all such concerns by deploying a strong team, which more or less shut the game down after twenty minutes.
Marc Pujolràs made his Cup debut in central midfield, and was assisted by
Erik Back and
Anders Josefsson. They faced down an adventurous 2-5-3 by the hosts, and emerged with the upper hand early on. It was old bird
Quah Han Kok who initiated the breakthrough, though, with an inviting setup for
Tian Yonghang, whose booming strike flew past Dutch goalkeeper Julian Arnoldussen in the tenth minute.
Grilled kept the pressure on as Soulf1re searched for an answer, and caught their defenders unaware with a supporting run by
Roberto Mausisa. The Filipino defender had scaled back the attacking side of his game in recent seasons, but his dash into space and subsequent pinpoint finish reminded observers that he should not be ignored.
Anders Josefsson, who did not score in his first 16 appearances for Grilled, then made it two from the next three as he backed up an interception by Safrinho and took a first-time effort. The Swede's improved confidence has been rubbing off on his overall game, and perhaps also on his teammates, as
Niculae Stanca got a soft yellow card for not moving away quickly enough from a free-kick.
Soulf1re United made a belated push for parity, but couldn't find the craft needed to breach an experienced Grilled side, with young Danish midfielder Johnny Dommer-Toft trying to do too much by himself. He was fortunate to stay on the field after petulantly taking Pujolràs down from the back, having been crowded out of the ball. Overworked defender Ananias Cubas then gave away a penalty by tugging at Yonghang's shirt inside the box, and
Quah Han Kok continued his cup scoring streak with his fourth of the season.
It was mostly over by half-time, and Grilled felt it safe to give
Edvaldo Mourão a run-out, preserving the impressive Pujolràs for the weekend's labours. Mourão made an impact with a well-taken goal in the 63rd minute, and Safrinho might have followed that up in the 75th minute, had Arnoldussen not made a dashing save.
