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| FIXTURE HISTORY |
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| Season 82 | W | 0 - 2 | Tournament (Group Phase) |
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Ottobrunn Return
Dale And Chip
TSV Ottobrunn Fussball would face Grilled Birds again five seasons after the 0-2 loss in The Global Trophy, having promoted to the fifth division in the meantime. The outcome would not change, however, as they again fell short by two goals, in this Group B match.
Being crushed 0-7 by AC Camuna in the previous round could not have done much for Ottobrunn's self-esteem, but they would at least manage to make up eleven members for today, with their incomplete lineup last week supposedly down to a virus that had ravaged their hotel. Against this defensive 5-2-3, the Birds would enact their standard gameplan, which was to attack in force - and with
Gústav Thoroddsen and
Orest Tokarz burning bright in recent days, why not?
Danish skipper Leon Sommer would hold court over a quite solid backline, all considered, and it was by no means as easy to get past them as AC Camuna had made it seem, all the more power to the Italians. Fifteen minutes would pass without Grilled managing as much as a sniff on Franklyn Perazo's goal, but
Brian Reddy did gave the Ecuadorean Number One much to think about, with a mighty drie that Perazo barely warded aside. Ottobrunn would switch it diagonally to the left flank with a practised ease, and Johnathan Dale called
Dimitris Germanakos out too by sidefooting it just wide.
Grilled took the tempo down a couple of notches after coming close to being hoisted by their own petard there, which soon worked out to their own advantage. Their deliberate passing patterns had Ottobrunn second-guessing themselves unproductively, and after some slow approach play,
Ha Qicai made himself available with a surprise sprint through the middle. Thoroddsen saw it coming, and proved as able in assisting, as he was in scoring.
Ottobrunn had their successes too, particularly with Sommer's impressive long-ranging runs up the right wing, and this had Jan Sellstedt set up nicely 27 minutes in - only for the German forward to slam it back off the foot of the post, and then clatter Germanakos in trying to reach his own rebound. He was lucky to stay on after that, as
Joe Reece showed him how to do it right the first time, before
Chia Kwang Tse overhit his own shot.
The half ended with Grilled Birds claiming two-thirds of the possession, but it never felt like Ottobrunn were out of contention. With their defence holding firm to start the second period, English sweeper Lee McNulty kept his head up well while avoiding challenges in the 52nd minute, and spotted Nyathi Simango making a go for it from the halfway line. The South African won his footrace against
Aw Keng Chuan, if barely, but did not manage to prod it past Grilled's custodian.
As it was, Franklyn Perazo wasn't making it easy for the Birds either, as
Gústav Thoroddsen would soon discover. Perazo's positioning did most of the work in the 67th minute in forcing Thoroddsen wide for a few precious seconds, and while the Icelander eventually managed to place it past the keeper, that bought time for Robert Blad to help out at the far post. Three minutes later, Thoroddsen would be booked after being reduced to a shoving contest with Mcnulty, just as a neutralized Tokarz went out for
Evandro La Face.
That switch-up sparked something in the Birds, and after La Face won a corner immediately after coming on, Aw would deliver it straight to
Joe Reece three yards out, and he wasn't about to miss from that range! Not satisfied, Evandro worked his way inside two minutes later, but was perhaps too selfish in taking it on himself instead of playing it out to
Chad Thach, who was in far more space.
Ottobrunn were not content with their fate, and Simango for one never stopped with his creative footwork in trying to get one back, to the approval of even the Birds fans. One especially eye-catching episode in the 83rd allowed Jan Sellstedt a big opening, but it would be overhit, and led to Grilled launching a counter of their own.
Chia Kwang Tse was on the end of the rather direct approach, but he couldn't outpace Perazo in the end.
That was also the last move that Thoroddsen would feature on, as he exited for
Phua Ming Xin with five minutes remaining - right as Leon Sommer tried his luck in running right into
Ha Qicai in search of a penalty. That was far too obvious and only copped him a yellow card, but at least Johnathan Dale would get the consolation for Ottoburn, in injury time.
