Comeback Kings
Tian So Sweet
Grilled had to claw their way back for the third time in four games to get past Woodlands Division Four side KingFaizalFc, whose CTMF Arena drew over 58000 paying customers for this fifth round Cup match. The Birds's original plan to strangle action in their own half and blitz the hosts on the break never materialised thanks to some shaky finishing, but the injection of several first-team stars after the break allowed them to pull through.
KingFaizalFc made three changes to the side that stunned Titus Titanium IV last Wednesday, with Finnish goalkeeping greenhorn Taras Komarov in for Turkish regular Ediz Üçgül, Miltos Vidas at left defence instead of local Yu Chang Hao, and Norge Omar Flo a like-for-like replacement for the equally quick Arkady Kulin. Grilled on the other hand went for a packed defence, moving Stanca and Ross to wingback, with
Rosendo Chinchay given his full debut in the middle.
The hosts had evidently prepared for Grilled to leave their usual space behind the wingers as their forwards fanned out into the channels from kickoff, and took time to adjust to being shackled all the same. Grilled's plan paid off in the eighth minute as a stray pass was steered rapidly up the left to Safrinho, who bore down on Komarov's goal with the ball, but his touch failed him at the last as he hit his dribble far too close to the grateful goalie.
Grilled continued going direct, and another pass from defence found Josefsson in space on the left side, as KingFaizalFc continued banging their heads against Grilled's numbers at the back. The 35 year-old Swede waited for the cavalry to arrive by taking it to the corner flag, and
Walter Ross was it as he covered the length of the pitch with his supporting run. Unfortunately, that took a lot from the still not entirely match-fit Austrian, who could only manage to hit his shot straight at Komarov.
The Birds couldn't complain about Miltos Vidas' opener for the hosts after such flagrant wastefulness, which came in the 38th minute from a corner. The big German fullback had inserted himself nicely between Chinchay and Ross in the build-up, and neither of them managed to gain comparable altitude when the ball dropped in.
Dexter Stacey was caught in two minds whether to come out for it, a notable lapse for the Canadian.
Grilled had one final chance to go into the break level as Lefébure squared it to
Tian Yonghang after coming under pressure on yet another counter down the left side, but the flavour of the month was less than composed for once, and skied it terribly.
Now just forty-five minutes from joining Arrogancae and Changi Genius in being knocked out, drastic measures were necessary, and
Han Lik-Tsun returned to Grilled's tried-and-tested 2-5-3 for the second half. Stanca handed over his skipper duties to actual captain
Gleb Dorogan, while Ross made way for
Marc Pujolràs, and Chinchay moved thirty yards up from sitting in front of the defence, to an attacking midfield role.
This was far more to the players' liking, and Safrinho got the much-needed equaliser on the hour, as Grilled again went in via the left flank. This time, however, the fresh legs of an inspired Pujolràs made a huge difference, as he forced half of the defence to him before laying it forward for Safrinho to sprint on to.
KingFaizalFc found themselves in trouble as they were again slow to respond to Grilled's updated tactics, but a grim-looking Sigmund Rheinland considered his options on the bench and motioned for his men to do the best they could. Omar Flo and Jean-Luis Beccarelli got bookings in quick succession as they attempted to break down Grilled's passing, and Makis Pountidis took a jarring impact to his back in contesting for possession, but it was not quite enough as
Tian Yonghang launched himself at a Dorogan cross to notch his eighth Cup goal of a very fruitful campaign.
The hosts had a possible shout for a game-saving penalty turned down by referee Beneke Solomon as Russian winger Denis Molyavko went down just inside the box after Jungui got in the way. To the dismay of the home fans, Bender shook his head after a glance at his linesman, which meant the end of the road for their side.
