Frozen Out
Aykal Astounds
Grilled's eight-match winning streak came to an end at The Igloo Dome, where Pudgy Penguins again proved themselves to be a major nemesis, with their third straight S-League victory over the Birds. There were few positive to take from an exceedingly ordinary excursion at Sentosa, the offshore resort of which has not been too propitious to Grilled followers.
Having already sunk to a 0-4 against the Sentosa-based Shining Lights earlier this season, the omens did not look good for the Birds, after
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim botched his first touch from kickoff. Penguins for their part have had next to no worries coming into this home game, and save for a narrow derby defeat to Lights last week and an away loss to BCFC, they have looked every inch the team to beat.
If the Birds were hoping that they would be cautious in the buildup to their Singapore Cup semifinal against Villains F.C., they would be sadly mistaken, as the hosts immediately sought to control the centre. Wingers József Náray and Andrew Haul positioned themselves some fifteen feet further from the touchlines than was customary for them, a clear sign of intent.
Grilled had not yet figured out how to deal with the Penguins, from their aimless wandering, with
Chow Ying Lee's red-blooded challenge into Iraqi national goalie Darawan Balikân about as good as it got for them.
Zhao Jing Wei's utility as a wide midfielder was again called into serious question as Náray gave him the runaround almost at will, and it wasn't long before this resulted in the home team's first.
Reigning S-League top scorer Tunç Aykal has earned Golden Boots in the Swiss and Italian leagues as well, and it was not hard to guess why. He was off and putting distance between himself and
Gene Filippone once Náray flashed by Zhao yet again in the 15th minute, and had already picked his spot at the near post by the time the ball arrived.
It was then Englishman Andrew Haul's turn to shine, as Penguins proved lethal down the wings despite their compressed formation. Grilled failed to adapt anywhere near quickly enough, and sharp breakaways by Haul in the 26th and 32nd minutes provided all-too-straightforward finishes for George Negoiţă and Giorgio Polani respectively.
This was certainly far more than the Birds could recover from, given their consistently poor decisions when they did have possession, and this was reflected by Filippone's petulant lash out at Aykal after the latter had successfully shielded the ball out for a corner. Referee Fredrik Nederbom did not hesitate with the yellow card for the silly act, which Grilled gaffer
Djan Bacelar was certainly not amused by either.
Grilled did recover some of their usual fire for the second half, and began actually threatening Balikân for once. Unfortunately, this panned out the other way, with
Ling Fuquan's excellent 65th minute effort being transformed by a big boot into a ready-made counterattack. Náray was completely free after Zhao had gotten himself involved in the previous going-ons, and blazed a clear trail right to the other end to make it 4-0.
The visiting fans weren't impressed by the Hungarian's unnecessarily provocative celebrations, and began to heckle him at every opportunity. Apparently, this got Náray's goat, and he would respond with increasingly misplaced aggression, cumulating in his catching of
Zhu Changchun with his trailing leg on a late tackle. Nederbom was close by, and reached for his cards for a second time.
The game was winding down as Penguins correctly judging that they had done well enough, and the question was whether Grilled had what it took for a consolation goal. Zhao did finally make something happen on the left in the 78th minute, as he crafted a delightful sequence of passes before feeding it inside. None of the forwards were in position, sadly, and only
Ling Fuquan made an effort to connect.
Ling would leave the pitch with the most shots on target for the Birds, leaving his replacement
Rashid bin Ahmad to save Grilled's blushes as Penguins roused themselves for a fifth in stoppage time. Protagonists Aykal and Náray worked the angles intelligently, only to be boxed out by Rashid's fresher feet.
