Curt Sendoff
Zhu Sacrifice
The Birds had to dig deep to break Division Four City side MetinKurt's stubborn resistance, and eventually had to rely on midfielder of the moment
Zhu Changchun to provide that extra something. Zhu paid a dear prize for his winner, though, as he was laid low by a dangerous late tackle that will see him out of the Robbie Football Club game on Sunday.
The hosts had not lost in their eight latest competitive games, enjoying a perfect start thus far. Recognized for a patient, cautious brand of football that emphasizes not conceding any, MetinKurt had let in just the one goal this season, a super header from Quah Wei Leng in the league.
There were no surprises then when they set up in a 5-5-0 formation at MetinKurt Memorial, while Grilled for their part brought a first-team quality defensive unit. Not that
Rashid bin Ahmad and
Walter Ross had much to do, with the action with little exception being centered well inside the MetinKurt half.
MetinKurt's players were masters of filling in for each other, though, and kept Grilled's opportunities to a bare minimum.
Low Aik Jia got the first sniff after seventeen minutes, but teenaged goalkeeper Ooi Ping Leng, starting just his fourth professional game, dove unhesitatingly to stop the shot.
If the remainder of the half was any indication, Ooi will have a fruitful career ahead of him, as he did well in keeping MetinKurt level. Although
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim and
Ling Fuquan ultimately put their efforts wide, the goalie's decision-making was spot-on each time, not allowing them an easy finish.
With it being a stalemate at half-time, reserve coach Luis Alcántara considered his options, and the match restarted with
Zhu Changchun in place of
Chow Ying Lee. He had hardly warmed up when the home team made a rare foray, and Italian winger Alfredo De Benetti came off the worst against Rashid, taking a big tumble. That was too theatrical for referee Ghanem Essalhi's tastes, however, and Alfredo was booked.
There was no reason that
Leong Wan Kang could not have scored in the 57th minute, after he had done the hard part by shaking free of a throng of defenders with some nifty movement on the ball. The fans behind the goal were already rising when Leong inexplicably decided against pulling the trigger, only to regret it seconds later as Ooi covered the distance between them.
Fortunately, Zhu knew how it was done, and Grilled got their goal six minutes later.
Low Aik Jia made good progress against Malik Udesen on the left with his swerving run, and cut it with the outside of the boot into the area just in front of the six-yard box. Zhu, current league joint-top scorer, saw that coming, and put it past Ooi with his ankle.
Now MetinKurt had to find a goal of their own, which was not exactly what they were built for, and all Peruvian head coach could do was to see what the creative David Pillier could conjure from centreback. Not a lot, as it happened, but he did at least stop his team from falling further behind, by clearing another of Leong's strikes off the line, after
Tian Yonghang took a quick free-kick.
It was looking pretty comfortable for the Birds, at least up until young French midfielder Daniel Bouriez caught Zhu's left leg between his boots in a botched interception. The Grilled playmaker, who had been untouchable up till then, was unable to rise, and had to be propped up by the medics as he hobbled off.
Zhu did have the consolation of knowing that it was his contribution that won it in the end, but it was certainly an expensive victory from's Grilled point of view.
