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| FIXTURE HISTORY |
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| Season 48 | L | 5 - 6 | Tournament (Group Phase) | | Season 48 | W | 7 - 4 | Tournament (Group Phase) | | Season 44 | W | 1 - 0 | League | | Season 44 | L | 2 - 0 | League |
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Eaten By Edbe
Anders Seals Deal
Grilled crashed out in the quarterfinals of the Singapore Masters, after an exceptional defensive effort from Edbe FC set the stage for a smash-and-grab late on. Without Chow, the Birds rejigged to a 3-5-2 with
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim operating as an orthodox striker, and
Rashid bin Ahmad sweeping up, but the loss of that extra body up top would prove critical.
There was some confusion before kick-off as the Grilled contingent apparently realised that
Ling Fuquan was ineligible after being sent off in the last group match, prompting
Joan Cisquell to hurriedly fill in. Edbe for their part were arrayed conservatively after their 4-3-3 was undone against East Coast Warriors in the league yesterday, and they had only Arnaldo Giangiulio up to chase down long balls.
The Birds understandably had an early party, and a classic switching maneuver between their wingers had
Wong Ping Shun take Lam Shi Wan out with a sharper cut than most would have thought him capable of. Wong would soon join Lam on the ground, though, as he pummelled the pitch in disgust after his lame final ball towards relieved former national star Pang Xuanjing.
The 37 year-old Pang, with 75 national caps at the youth and senior level, held the fort well as he drew on his immense store of experience, and even kickstarted an excellent counter after saving from Mohd Safri. Giangiulio got in front of Cisquell to chest that one down to an onrushing Liang Shuntian, and Yue Xianlun nearly put it past
Wong Tian Han, who had to come up with a mid-air change of direction.
Edbe settled after those trying times, and despite the Birds' overwhelming possession, not even Mohd Safri could do much when double-teamed throughout.
Low Aik Jia had no trouble pumping in crosses, but the Edbe backline had it even easier heading them out, and it was Edbe's Abdul Samad and Xianlun who had the best open chances of the half.
It wasn't exactly pretty for the spectators, but neither side were about to deviate from what they knew best, leading to a predictable to-and-fro about Edbe's final third. The break saw
Tian Yonghang moving perceptibly upfield, as Grilled sought to increase the pressure.
This did cause the opposition defence some worry, with the tricky Tian dancing between any gaps that appeared. In the 61st minute, though, it was Edbe who opened the scoring against the run of play, as Latvian speed merchant Jānis Blūmiņš blew all comers aside as he went at full throttle down the left. Cisquell had no recourse as Blūmiņš simply outpaced him, before sending a fine grounder inside Wong's far post.
The simple but effective play had Grilled flummoxed, which wasn't helping at all as they chased the game with increasing desperation. Certainly, it was the Edbe players who looked far more relaxed as they reacted to the Birds' regular-as-clockwork crossing... until Tian dug deep to find that bit of magic.
Receiving the ball just outside the penalty area in the 85th minute, he whirled past Xianlun, then pushed it wide of two defenders in succession before chipping Pang in almost a single fluid motion. The Grilled captain was then mobbed by his teammates, who had been close to spent at this point.
Very sadly, their exhaustion was very real, and after
Zhu Changchun was dispossessed in midfield attempting to find a through pass, the Birds could barely find reverse gear as Gregor Anders tore it up down the left, and the German winger would claim the winner with a world-class screamer into the roof of the net.
