Dubai Relief
Nagata Closer
Grilled Birds snagged their first victory in what seemed like forever against C.F. Dubai in the AFC ASIAN CUP, and a huge one it was too.
Chad Thach,
Raúl Himadas and
Phillip Nagata took turns to wail on the UAE IV.56 leaders, who did keep their own nine-match competitive win streak.
C.F. Dubai had suffered a 0-4 to Ambush F.C. in the previous round, and as
Tian Yonghang asserted then, the Birds simply had to prevail in this game. Their local boss Thabet Al-Awar stuck to the basics with a no-frills 4-4-2, captained by 31 year-old Iranian midfielder Ashkan Zahiri. Alfonso Galarza and Johann Halbeisen provided foreign flavour in the attack, as young Italian goalkeeper Costantino Murru held court between the sticks.
Grilled Birds kept with the lineup that had drawn with the Bunnies yesterday, and if that had not been the most convincing proof of their abilities,
Chad Thach wasted no time providing it, in far improved weather conditions. A full-blooded third-minute strike around Ville Kaario set the Birds on the right path, soon followed by a second goal in the thirteenth minute as he swapped sides with
Mohd Marzuki Khairul to good effect.
It was
Raúl Himadas' turn to shine now, and he got his big chance when
Hwang Teck Fu got taken down by Hungarian centreback Bartul Negro, two minutes after Thach's brace. His initial free-kick was palmed away for a corner by Murru, which he duly played short to
Chia Kwang Tse on the left. The UAE team had placed too much priority on clogging up the centre, however, and allowed Himadas to dribble inside at will - and by the time they recognized the danger, it was too late - three-nil!
That was how it stayed until the break, and Himadas would be back at it five minutes after the restart, with Marzuki winning a free-kick twenty yards out. The Spanish defender made no mistake this time, clearing the wall comfortably. He then completed his hat-trick from the penalty spot in the 65th minute, with Bartul Negro accidentally handling the ball soon after a yellow card for a mistimed challenge. The referee allowed him to stay on, but this left Himadas to pocket it into the top left.
The Birds were not about to slack off yet, given how goal difference might very well decide advancement in the case of a draw in the final group match, and
Phillip Nagata answered the call with his continued industry on the right wing. Slovenian winger Gregor Pirjavec simply couldn't keep up, and Nagata crashed past both him and Trillizo Galván in the 67th, to chip Costantino Murru for Grilled's sixth.
One more goal would be forthcoming after
Genki Nagano's close shave 80 minutes in, as Hwang had to be stopped illegally by two C.F. Dubai men. Near everyone was expecting
Raúl Himadas to go for a personal fourth, so it seemed, from the reaction when he instead drove it low towards a cluster of teammates in the box.
Lim An Keng could have taken it on, but elected to leave it for Nagata instead, and the winger repaid his trust with a powerful half-volleyed drive to the far bottom corner.
