Twilight At Blackout
Safri Saves Point
Former U-20 hotshot
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim became Grilled's hero as he stole a draw from under Shining Lights' noses in the last minute of normal time, with Grilled collecting their fourth league draw in six outings. Unlike the others, however, the Birds were happy to take this one.
With both former Cup winners eyeing a long-awaited return to the last sixteen, the match was not expected to be a classic, although the need for points in this highly competitive league meant that few if any first-teamers were rested. Sarp Nakip passed a late fitness test to guard the Lights goal, while Grilled had
Vukota Crkvenjakov as their only high-profile casualty.
The all-day rain had not spared Blackout Arena, but this suited Lights' new midfielder Kurt Sellerup just fine, as he bullied Grilled's comparatively lightweight midfield. Pujolràs, who had done well in recent matches, moved heavily over the waterlogged pitch, and was thankful that a Sellerup setup for prolific Italian striker Antonio Trielli ended up in a near-miss.
Walter Ross, who had been singled out for his recent form in training, was especially ineffective in these conditions.
The Birds would go ahead against the run of play, though, with
Chow Ying Lee ending his recent scoring drought as he splashed past his U-20 senior Zabidi bin Katmon on the right side. A delighted Chow prepared to fling himself to the ground in celebration after watching his shot sail past Nakip, but took a look at the mud and thought better of it.
The lead was held for all of seven minutes before the hosts pulled level, as the blinding rain made Lezuans' corner-kick a lottery for the players waiting in the box. Geir Rørstad wound up being in the right spot as the ball dropped in, and he executed a header with perfect form to power it between
Dexter Stacey's gloves.
Shining Lights then went ahead going into half-time, with S$7.6 million Estonian forward Markus Võigemast outflanking Junggui on the left as they pressed down that side. Grilled skipper
Gleb Dorogan tried to rally his troops to tie it up, but was stopped in his tracks by Siegwart Wörishofer, who was hauled up for a yellow card for obstruction.
Han Lik-Tsun's only substitution was
Anders Josefsson for the clearly rattled
Walter Ross on the hour, at the same time as Lights coach Guilhem Huss threw Hijmen Huf on for Lin Khong Hai. Huss looked to have gotten the better deal, as Huf immediately stretched his legs and raced through the middle in an impressive demonstration of speed from a 37 year-old.
Qassem Madaini recovered and caught up, but not before Huf released the ball to Trielli, who gleefully tapped it in.
There seemed no hope for Grilled as a confident Shining Lights side continued to dominate, and they narrowly avoided going further behind as Trielli sent forth a piledriver that shook the goalframe. Grilled's penchant for late comebacks unexpectedly stayed with them, though, and the Lights supporters were not amused when
Erik Back ghosted in to nick a second goal for the Birds in the 83rd minute.
Lights began to hold the ball as they prepared for the final whistle, and indeed Grilled could do little about it as they chased ineffectually, a miserable undertaking in such weather. Mathis Richer was put on for Markus Võigemast in an attempt to eat away precious seconds, and an irritated
Chow Ying Lee resorted to sliding in to try and win possession back, and was lucky not to be sent off.
Grilled's chance came after a Pedro Lezaun free-kick was wasted, and Stacey ordered all his outfielders into the Lights half before pumping a Hail Mary goalkick deep inside. All appeared lost as the hosts won the header and attacked in search of a game-ending fourth, but luck was on Grilled's side as Madaini managed to take the ball off Wörishofer, and delivered a slide-rule pass along the touchline for Mohd Safri to chase.
It is moments like this that define a player's career, and Mohd Safri lived up to expectations brilliantly, teasing the retreating defenders before cutting inside onto his supposedly weaker foot and poking the equaliser right into the far bottom corner.
There was uproar in the terraces, and more was to come with Madaini nearly nicking it at the death, but his effort, while on target, was too close to Nakip. Lights then nearly took the points with a nice free-kick combination in the last minute of added time, only for Zabidi bin Katmon to arrive too late to make it count.
