Red Faces
Reserves Shine
Anfield Reds found no joy as they sunk to a fifth consecutive league loss, but it was just the tonic for Grilled Birds, who had a barely better streak. Bona was left off the team sheet, but van Liere was poised to make a return until a freak stumble while walking down the stairs from the dressing room. With the starting lineups already submitted,
Luis Alcántara had to put Borup in before the kickoff.
The visitors were still without talismanic player-coach ZhangCai Yongye, but had hearts racing among the expectant home support with an early blitz. They flooded forward fearlessly, and ex-Web Worms United forward Suhaimi bin Rasdi forced a big save from Abed-Sulaiman in the fourth minute.
Siu-Yue's competitive edge got the better of him, and he maimed 29 year-old defender Marcus Rogersson with a typical offensive midfielder's sliding tackle - late and bad. He was heading for the tunnel, believing that he had been sent off, when Kek-Tjiang ran up to him to inform him that it was just a yellow.
18 year-old Chen Khuong was subbed in, and barely two minutes later was caught out when the on-form Rottman breezed in from an advanced position and torpedoed a stunner low into the corner. Martinsson's lousy luck with free-kicks was extended as he again struck the woodwork with the keeper well beaten.
Second-choice right winger
Terkel Borup built on his impressive midweek performance, as he outfoxed Tomas Irhall to bear down on goal from the side. His weak first attempt was kept out by a defender on the line, but it came back his way and he neatly sent it crashing into the back of the net.
Falkbo ate a meaty challenge from fellow Swedish defender Jan Tellén, but the two had a few friendly words to say to each other as Tellén helped his countryman off the ground. A nice gesture, but the referee had already decided the bump was hard enough to warrant a booking.
Lorenz Paullin went up the back of a teammate to gain height as he powered in a bullet header off Borup's cross, after a heavy buildup for the first few minutes of the second half. Three-nil was certainly an acceptable scoreline, and Alcántara waved for his men to keep it that way.
American Jack Motley became very dangerous when given the extra space, though, and soon he had Suhaimi bin Rasdi clear. The striker fluffed it again, unfortunately for Anfield. Alcántara, more than willing to admit his mistakes, reversed his orders and soon the Grilled attacking machine was whirring again.
Anfield's problems in defence were thrust in the spotlight when a backpass was not attended to promptly. Martinsson accelerated to full speed for the first time in the game, and the defender was taken in by the sudden pace. Getting a first touch to the ball and skipping over the last man's challenge, Martinsson sold a dummy to hapless goalie Dallas Duncan, who was having a debut to forget. Duncan went for the ball at Martinsson's feet, but by then it was gone and halfway into the net.
Chen Khuong defended manfully on the right, and shut down more than a few Paullin thrusts. He got a yellow for kicking the ball away after the ball went out for a Grilled throw, perhaps in a vain attempt to buy a few more seconds. Even veteran defender Falkbo would get on the scoresheet, as he delivered a no-frills kick given a bit too much space in the box.
Wai-Kin, who has made himself a better creator than predator in his games so far, should have made it six but for an incredible stop by the Canadian Duncan. There was some resigned muttering when Martinsson suddenly pulled up lame with eight minutes to go, but by the time the one-sided game ended, he was up and running on the sidelines again.
