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| FIXTURE HISTORY |
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| Season 48 | L | 2 - 0 | Tournament (Playoffs) |
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Kang Thumped
Safri Runs Riot
Grilled rolled into the Cup semifinals in an overwhelmingly emphatic fashion, annihilating Kang Xi Lai Le by seven goals to two at 中天电视台. Kang Xi remained well in with a shout at half-time, after bravely battling their way back from a worrying 0-3 deficit, but everything fell the right way for the Birds in a second half that saw them score four without reply.
The lead-up to the match was initially dominated by conjecture over the form of Kang Xi's Rudolph Hamar, but interest dwindled after the German midfielder was seen participating in training on Monday morning. This meant that other than wingback Krijn Demedts, who remained in rehabilitation, both teams had a full complement of players to select from.
With the forward line picking itself, the big question for Grilled was the extent to which they would bolster their midfield, and on this
Niculae Stanca went for a offensively-oriented approach;
Low Aik Jia would start, as would
Gene Filippone, with
Abdul bin Jantan included as a substitute.
The home side were used to weathering some close shaves, as evidenced by their wins in the previous three rounds all being by the odd goal, and were remarkably stoic after
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim opened the scoring. After a short dry spell, the former U-20 kingpin has found the net in five of the last six games, and he started anew in the eleventh minute with a calm sweep in from
Wong Ping Shun.
Their composure could not help but be rattled when Grilled doubled the lead from the restart, though. National veteran Lim Jia Chang tracked back to no avail after
Chow Ying Lee closed him down with frightening speed, and Filippone got off an opportunistic strike that came off Quintin Heckner's attempted block, leaving Martiniano Quintas hopelessly wrongfooted.
This was certainly not in Paul Lopez Soria's gameplan, but the Argentine coach could do little as he watched his defence begin to wilt under the unrelenting stress. It was
Low Aik Jia's turn to strut his stuff six minutes later, as he burst beyond Miroslav Lukášek before slicing in a low cross. Mohd Safri lapped it up, before raising his thumbs sideways in acknowledgement of the excellent service from the flanks.
Just as the Birds were getting too comfortable, Kang Xi began their rally. They were not about to give up just like that, and the steel in their midfield soon showed. Former national youth winger Manny Aldro has been turning in masterful shifts on the right, and on top of that exhibited flexibility in cutting inside when the occasion demanded it. This was what happened in the 21st, when he picked up where Massimiliano Chiarenza left off, and made it 3-1 with an awesome effort into the far top corner.
Viewing this as a sign of better things to come, the home faithful raised their voices once more, and their players responded willingly. Their second came after
Tian Yonghang pushed his luck too far in trying to dribble past three on his own, and after Lim Jia Chang forced him off it, the ensuing counter saw Aldro fly past all comers on the right, and center it for Damiano Ugoccioni. Fillipone jumped earlier, but Ugoccioni got the crowd on their feet by connecting powerfully and sending it past
Wong Tian Han.
It was
Niculae Stanca's turn to arrive at the sidelines, and judging from his signals, Grilled's top priority after that was simply to hold their lead till the break. This they did, not without trouble, as Chiarenza had a couple more saved by Wong.
The Kang Xi men emerged from the tunnel raring to go, and judging from the atmosphere, the spectators felt that they would overturn the lead in short order. The first few minutes were indeed more encouraging for the home side, but it then went horribly wrong, once Low skinned Aldro with a lightning-sharp turn.
With nobody on the Kang Xi team particularly eager to close Low down, as the speedy if erratic winger bobbed and weaved towards goal, it was left to Quintin Heckner to make the step up before Low entered the penalty area. However, Low chose that instant to lay it on for Mohd Safri, and the Grilled star unerringly completed his hat-trick.
If that was a downer for the home fans, they really got deflated when Low repeated the feat shortly after, only this time going it himself. He was flailing about trying to stay upright while covering the final metres, but retained his balance for long enough to poke it past Quintas.
At this, the sense that they had too high a hill to climb began to descend, and even the normally-indomitable Kang Xi men began to waver. Mehmet Pek quite jarringly gave up chasing Wong, though nothing came out of that particular attack, while the veteran Lim did his best to cover gaps, but his legs were visibly going from under him.
Under these circumstances, it was no surprise that the Birds would cash in, and they got a sixth through
Zhao Jing Wei. The enforced rest through suspension had done him no harm at all, and that extra bit of freshness helped him to keep up when Low again pushed the envelope down the left.
What would otherwise have been a perfect day was blemished when
Chow Ying Lee began hobbling after a sudden change of direction, at which Stanca happily pulled him off for a very eager
Pompeo Bellamoli. Low would then add a seventh for the heck of it, as his youthful vigor overrode all efforts to suppress him.
