Quick Burn
The Zhu Zhu Train
Grilled continued feeding cheer for the new year to their patient supporters, in a derby that took no time at all to get off the ground. The Birds piled pressure on Yew Tea's Spanish head coach Aleix Picó, whose rebuilding regime is coming under close scrutiny by his expectant fans.
Yew Tea sported a whole new look from when they battered an admittedly underwhelming Grilled selection 5-1 to sign off last season, having shifted seven players and taken six on for a net gain of about S$10 million in the off-season.
Wingbacks Drahomír Hecl and Frédéric Renault were first to depart together for Tótkomlósi Torna Club, but the departures most keenly felt were probably those of former Latvian youth international Aigars Beierbahs, and German do-it-all Hannes-Noah Reinicke. In return, however, they got fowards Lasse Koskela and Trondar Gulbrandsen, who together with Palestine left winger Omar Zreeqat have made a deadly trio.
The problem was that Grilled were at home, which automatically sealed a good part of that offensive potential. Barely three minutes had gone by when
Tian Yonghang feinted his way through the middle, and deposited a low, hard strike beyond Damián San Gil Cortázar.
Yew Tea were soon back on level terms through the dependable Dimitar Baliev, who had survived the cull for good reason, as he dropped a cross right onto Jari Talamonti's head. The Birds answered that through
Zhu Changchun's unerring right boot, though, as the midfielder banged it into the top corner from the edge of the penalty area.
The Birds were getting into their element in the open environment, and the opponents were left reeling despite their own considerable punch. They had to be commended for their daring in trying to outshoot Grilled at The Cooking Pot, but this too often left space, that the likes of
Ling Fuquan were only too pleased to claim. It was 3-1 after 13 minutes, with Ling rolling it in unopposed.
Zhu, whose presence the visiting midfielders found it exhausting to cope with, effectively ended the match with a direct cut inside, followed by a diagonal shot. Simple, yes, but still frighteningly effective, and judging from the celebration, that was what truly counted.
Niculae Stanca was clear-headed enough to caution his men against overconfidence, and had the Birds settling on controlling the ball as much as possible. This sensible strategy lasted till half-time, after which Yew Tea came out with guns blazing; Baliev nicked another in a goalmouth melee six minutes in, after which Wilfried Rancke sent hearts racing with a free-kick that blew just over.
Sensing that the opposition were beginning to regain their morale, the Birds began reverting to their original style, and it paid off handsomely when
Chow Ying Lee made it 5-2 with an aggressive run right at newcomer Taco Beukenkamp. The Dutch wingback had just been on for minutes after Talamonti had to leave with a sprain, and was undone by Chow's top speed.
Order restored, Grilled went back into energy conservation mode, with Stanca sending
Rashid bin Ahmad on for
Qassem Madaini to drill the point home. Although Remon Hodzelmans got a third back for Yew Tea with heavy contribution from Zreeqat, the Birds never seriously looked like letting this one out of their grasp from then on.
