Wolfes Hunted
Tang Magic
The Birds had waited three long seasons to avenge their extra-time defeat against Yemeni juggernauts Angry Wolfes, and this they did with a 4-3 win after 95 minutes, having inexplicably let slip a three-goal lead in eight minutes.
The Wolfes were back in strength, having finished third twice and second once since their title-winning season, but are now six points clear of closest challengers Hajjah Warriors with four games to go, and can effectively sew it up with a win against Hajjah on Sunday. It is thus understandable why they came to The Cooking Pot with a defensive mindset, with their reserves never looking comfortable in the 5-4-1 they chose.
Seeing a defence less tactically astute than their own for once, the Birds went on the offensive, and received a slightly soft homer penalty after the ball was lifted into a defender's hand in the sixth minute. With no outfielder older than 23 on the field, Grilled's players nominated
Mayur Gudivada to take the spot kick, which he did put past Wolfes goalie Emil Celarek slightly nervously to open his Grilled account.
Liew Soon Ting, the borderline forward who has been thrown a lifeline by the club, certainly did not shirk any duties as he soldiered on grimly after eating a bad tackle in the eighth minute, with
Teo Yong Yau also suffering from the at times brutal challenges. It was left to returning striker
Wardi Azhari to nip in and poach a second, soon after Antonello Cartasegna missed for Wolfes.
The half ended on a high note for Grilled's young side as
Li Boon Boon exploded from central midfield to home in a third, and threatened to overrun the visitors before the experienced Sami Al-Sana'ani paused play with a premeditated foul by the sidelines.
The loudest cheers of the day were reserved for
Tang Hengcai upon his entry at the beginning of the second half, two weeks after his ugly injury against Alam Lions. He would be frustrated however as his teammates lost the sharpness that they exhibited in spades earlier on, satisfied with their considerable lead.
This was a mistake, as Angry Wolfes grew in confidence with each pass, and they pulled one back through Dorian Osek in the 78th minute. That didn't change Grilled's lackadaisical attitude, though
Hung Wee Li did test Celarek with a cannon of a shot, and they only began to wake up after Spanish winger Rodrigo Barro rose unmarked to head in a corner, easy as pie.
The Birds switched from asleep to scrambling in moments, but still fell prey to Osek's second of the match, with Awyong and Bakhtiar falling over each other to cover a bemused Manuel Indaneta while allowing the Pole to advance unopposed. Acting coach Luis Alcántara had seen enough, and replaced the shamefaced duo with
Vukota Crkvenjakov and
Yvan Lefébure.
The two immediately restored stability to the Grilled backline, and
Neo Da Teck could have saved them from entering extra-time with a chip that came close, but it was perhaps just as well since it gave
Tang Hengcai the opening to make himself a hero with a creatively-executed golden-goal half volley on the turn.
