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| FIXTURE HISTORY |
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| Season 90 | L | 1 - 4 | Tournament (Group Phase) |
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Cavs Can
Vihtla Decider
Few held out hope that Grilled Birds could upset Serie A side Manchester Cavallo to go through in the Dominion International Cup, but the Birds came a lot closer that most thought. Had a little more fortune gone their way, it could have been Grilled through with Maniacal Misfitz.
Knowing well that nothing less than victory would be sufficient, the Birds held nothing back from the starting whistle, even as Cavallo went with a more cautious approach. There would not be too many changes from the team that mastered Grilled 4-1 last season, with Bulgarian rightback Marko Simeonov one of the exceptions. Uzbek winger Amir Gulomov would also start for them today, after being a substitute for that game.
Grilled would actually force their opponents deep inside their final third with their relentless drive early on, as they ground Cavallo's 3-5-2 backwards yard by yard with carefully-directed possession. They would also shoot somewhat less than usual with Indonesian national goalkeeper Kusnadi Hutasoit not known to be vulnerable to anything less than very proper strikes, and it took until the 21st minute for
Hwang Teck Fu to have a first go for the Birds, having been played entirely clear by
Lim An Keng. Sadly, it was still not enough, with Hutasoit converging on Hwang's available space.
The missed chance did give Grilled assurance that they were taking the right tack, and they would be ahead three short minutes later.
Gandhik Chitre's tricky footwork had gotten Azim Burla off-balance, but Denis Novo's foresight allowed him to be in place to block Chitre's dribble off. This however left
Chia Kwang Tse with a clear look at goal on the loose ball, and he would nimbly sidestep Simeonov's approach, before barely beating Hutasoit with his delicate placement at the far post!
That had the Birds fans perked up, with advancement very much on the plate now. Grilled were definitely the ones playing with more confidence as they continued attacking, but Cavallo were in Serie A for a reason. German veteran Tommy Michenthaler knew exactly what he had to do when
Aw Keng Chuan made contact on the edge of the box, and his gamble paid off with the referee awarding the penalty. Former French youth international Trần Khải Tuấn stepped up, and drove a no-nonsense twelve-yarder past
Radomil Marcol.
The Birds had not quite registered that with Aw insisting on contesting the decision with the referee, and while he would not be booked, worse could and would happen. Cavallo had the numbers in the middle as they concentrated their forces in the 36th minute, and Estonian winger Raigo Vihtla lost
Paulino Trindade right on time for Novo's immaculate through pass.
Ha Qicai stretched but couldn't get a touch, and Vihtla ran it past Marcol for 2-1.
Cavallo's ascendancy stretched into the second half as Grilled struggled to regain their foothold in the game, and it was only through luck that the Birds didn't fall further behind. Vihtla was outright bullying Trindade with his stature at some points, and he would find Arvis Roze with space to operate, 57 minutes in. Ha couldn't block the shot once again, and it would be
Raúl Himadas to be Grilled's hero in this instance, as he stopped the ball from going across the line, if barely.
Replays would soon confirm Himadas' save, and this gave the Birds the courage to mount a series of rallies. Some fruitless long balls later, Grilled kept it on the ground with
Chad Thach bringing it up through the middle, but
Brian Reddy ironically couldn't keep it down after wrapping his right foot about the ball. Two minutes later in the 76th,
Aw Keng Chuan had perhaps the best chance to equalise as he outjumped Azim Burla for a great Reddy cross, but directed his header a yard wide with Hutasoit covering.
