People Silenced
Remco Repeat
Lengthily-named Ivory Coast visitors People of the Night from Yamoussoukro endured a no less long ninety minutes at The Cooking Pot, where Grilled subjected them to a 7-0 hammering despite trying out a 4-5-1. With key Turkish striker Derya Sevgim not on the plane to Singapore, homegrown Number Eleven Youssoupha N'Gouan was their best performer on the field by some distance, while national U-20 winger Innocent Traoré continued his learning process operating from the centre.
Lee Lee Hao returned to the fray after not being in the squad against SKANKS on Sunday, and was awarded the responsibility of dictating Grilled's midfield against Yamoussoukro.
Woon Shun An's rehabilitation seemed to be complete as he lined up on the right side moving without any apparent discomfort, unlike in his previous appearances.
Yamoussoukro were eager to get the game going despite the rainstorm, with the newly-professional Sami N'Sanman exuding dedication as he challenged
Gene Filippone down the left.
Tian Yonghang, on the other hand, looked as he had finally played one game too many, as he wound up standing about with hands on hips after losing his footing constantly in the mud.
Overall, the Birds nevertheless retained the initiative, and
Remco van der Ban's taste for scoring has clearly not subsided, given how he kept attacking the opposing goal with alarcity. As against SKANKS, the Spaniard took his official position as merely a guideline, and after lurking about the Yamoussoukro six-yard box for awhile, sent an outstanding rocket into the corner.
Lee, who will surely give
Djan Bacelar a selection headache for next week with his intelligence box-to-box running despite the conditions, knocked in a second within five minutes in combination with Woon, after which the visitors shut up shot until half-time. Danish custodian Hans Erling Gravesen claimed the highlight of the match thus far, with his incredible reaction fingertip save off
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim's snap header.
This was partly due to Grilled's non-familiarity with having only one up top, but
Pompeo Bellamoli made the most of this restriction after coming on for
Leong Wan Kang. Unlike Leong, Bellamoli made it a point to drop deep frequently, and the space opened contributed greatly to Filippone and Tian putting the score up to four-nil by the 53rd minute.
More than that, the Italian managed to get on the nerves of Yamoussoukro wingback Joël Tchemo with his prospenity to go to ground when touched, which led to Tchemo exploding against referee Dennis Grellen; he regretted it almost immediately, but the penalty for that was absolute, and his team would have to make do with ten men.
This freed up yet more room for the Birds, and with Youssoupha N'Gouan beginning to feel the effects of sloshing about non-stop, Grilled felt justified in pushing up. Inevitably,
Chow Ying Lee would add to the scoreline in the 75th minute, as he found an open path through the thinned-out Yamoussoukro backline.
Bellamoli got one for himself with some smart anticipation in the 81st minute, before Remco got another brace with a solid header off one of Woon's many crosses.
Joan Cisquell strolled on leisurely for
Colby Awyong as the game died down, but that was not enough for the visitors to claim a consolation,
Krystian Rykowski not being in a generous mood against Tino Déblé's hopeful long-range grounder.
