Grilled Birds 1 - 5
JUtd 
No Happy Homecoming
Senesi Exposes Flaws
Zhao Jing Wei's planned welcome party was cancelled by the visiting JUtd, who dealt Grilled one of the worst home league losses of their history, the 1-5 result eclipsed only by the mythical Herron's 0-6 whitewash over twenty seasons ago in the S-League, and heimu XI's 1-6 three seasons back, helped by a Safri bin Mustapa on fire.
It wasn't meant to turn out that way, with Zhao's return having all the trappings of a fairytale, and the volume of the cheers that greeted the prodigious son when he stepped out for Grilled proper matched anything that The Cooking Pot had ever heard. The new Number Five lapped the attention up, and by the time Antonio Sánchez got the game underway, it seemed as if nothing could stop Zhao from getting whatever he wanted.
JUtd would have something to say about that, though, and the Birds' emerging bogey side slowly but surely had Grilled tied up on the ropes. Backed by a praiseworthy battling midfield performance from Rosemiro Barcellos, JUtd displayed the art of dangling openings, only to close them up at the last instant. That said, they still had to rely on Lukas Gröne to make several key saves.
The preparations done, the visitors chose to strike in the last five minutes of the half. Grilled had by then been resigned to seeing out time half-heartedly and regrouping over the interval, and were completely out of it when Mathieu Villedieu pulled it all out of his locker and powered past Madaini in the 39th minute. Nobody was close enough to help out, and Villedieu thrashed it past Kryus once inside.
Edmund Kryus' warning about Grilled's defence looked horribly on the dot, as the Birds' worst fears were realised. Attempting to correct the oversight by attacking, they were caught high when Barcellos intercepted, and a quick start by Antonio Guridi meant that he was in the clear before any of Grilled's defenders realised it. A deft finish doubled JUtd's lead barely a minute after the first goal.
Stanca was on his feet and raging now, but this didn't do much to lift the Grilled players, who were now looking like a bunch of lost schoolkids. They retreated in numbers, but were to be outdone once more by Rasmus Grønkjær, who teased
Abdul bin Jantan with his close control before swinging an expansive cross to the corner of the penalty area. There, it was met by the irresistable Maximiliano Domínguez, who got started on his tally with a beautiful scissors kick, after finishing with nine for last season.
The Grilled players were in disbelief when Sánchez blew for half-time, and could hardly will themselves to get off the pitch. Stanca had to order them off himself, but couldn't raise their spirits much. The second half began with the Birds again hesitant, leaving Kryus to pull off a stunning stop off Barcellos to save them from collapsing immediately.
The supporters began to find their voice again gradually, and some confidence was restored as
Zhao Jing Wei lived up to expectations by tidying things up and keeping the ball on the ground. Grilled badly needed that leadership in midfield, and from it sprung hope, as
Zhu Changchun got a great pass off in the 58th minute, allowing
Tian Yonghang to ghost in and fire low past Gröne.
A comeback looked likely for a moment as the Birds began to take charge, but this jolt burned itself out within minutes as they went back to erratic passing.
Ling Fuquan was forced into taking a yellow card when a careless lob went to Gino Alzamora, and once the initiative was lost, JUtd restored their three-goal cushion through Gerardo Senesi, who headed home a cross from Antonio Guridi.
Senesi got another four minute later after Ling was out of options facing him, and the visitors were content to fend off the dispirited Birds for the rest of the game.
