Generation Interrupted
Swamp Swing
Filipino II.4 favourites GenSan Strikers were like Grilled Birds something of a Challenger Cup specialist, having won seven of them so far, including three Sapphire and Ruby versions apiece. They would not have a good day in this Round of Sixteen contest in Singapore, however, as the Birds made the most of their familiarity with the seasonal monsoon, to outslog the Strikers in quite adverse conditions.
The local fans had suffered enough from the inclement weather, judging from the lower-than-usual attendance, but there remained enough to do justice to this AFC ASIAN CUP fixture.
Tian Yonghang went for the curious tack of playing both
Aw Keng Chuan and
Genki Nagano together in midfield, which certainly freed
Lim An Keng from essentially all defensive responsibilities there.
Chad Thach would be tried out at right wing with Reddy still absent, with the Birds having no lack of candidates in front.
The Strikers for their part have hit a bit of a rough patch after five straight league wins to start the season, with elderly Finnish head coach Pekka Pusu putting out his usual experienced side. Swedish midfielder Eugen Norbom kept his place despite being stricken by poor form, and soon looked out of place as the match heated up.
Chad Thach was his usual combative self, and lasted all of three minutes before getting deservedly booked, for sweeping Israeli winger Lihod Rovin's legs out from under him.
The former Ivory Coast Ligue 1 winner with loucogg team took his time recovering from that, as the Strikers faithful heaped abuse upon a nonchalent Thach. The game restarted with an edge to it - one that was quickly pointed towards the visitors.
Aw Keng Chuan, still eager to re-prove himself, nearly drew first blood in the seventh minute from simply persevering in the dribble, but his wind-up shot was headed straight at Italian Number One Michele Fasolo.
The opener was not much longer in arriving as Grilled fared rather better on the heavy pitch, as they mixed a patient, almost plodding approach, with scalpel-like short passes when opportunity presented itself. This was the case when
Hwang Teck Fu took advantage of a stuck ball to break in from the left in the 13th minute, and although he dragged the strike across,
Darko Andrović blazed in to keep the ball in - and better than that, directed back to
Chad Thach, who only had to sidefoot it past a nonplussed Fasolo.
Aw would continue getting himself involved in the offence with GenSan Strikers ceding the middle, and he picked up a nice assist 26 minutes in.
Lim An Keng had retained his taste from scoring from his exploits against Singapore Red Dragons on Sunday, and he had no qualms in almost taking it off
Gandhik Chitre, as he made straight for Aw's through ball following some intricate interpassing. There would be no time for apologies as Lim then prodded it to Yiannis Manesis' left, before firing it hard to the opposite corner.
The second half began at a relatively slower pace with the pitch having only gotten more waterlogged, and not a few of the players looked miserable as they trudged onwards in rain so thick that it sometimes obscured their vision. The similarly-drenched referee had resolved to see this out after consulting with both sets of coaches during the break, however, and Grilled would gladly up the pace as the heavens opened;
Hwang Teck Fu demonstrated magnificent control as he wove inside after 63 minutes, and put his shot just out of Fasolo's range.
It was time for
Gandhik Chitre to thrive as conditions improved and the ground drained, and he was helped by the Strikers defence being somewhat demoralized by this stage. A clever turn saw him find a fourth goal in the 67th minute, and he could have had another two minutes later, had he managed to keep his right-footed attempt a yard lower.
