Overrun By Traktor
Dordoyev At The Death
Kyrgyzstani Division Two winners Traktor Bishkek knocked the Birds out at the semifinal stages of the unofficial Asian Champions League friendly competition today, with a last-minute strike from national youth team midfielder Dairbek Dordoyev to securing their progress. Grilled will have to rue letting this one slip through their fingers, however, having been 3-0 up after thirty minutes.
Having eliminated the Malaysian champions in the last round, Traktor were after a repeat, and they certainly had the pedigree to pull it off; other than Dordoyev, target man and captain Urslan Jambil Uulu had also played for their national U-20 side, while playmakers Hergrímur Zachariasen and Ethan Daws were also much-capped youth internationals. Then, in defence, they had the vastly experienced Carlos Navarro, who had represented Costa Rica at all levels, and played in the Hattrick Masters with domestic giants La Furia Tica.
All this only made the Birds' methodical dismantling of their opponents in the opening half-hour, all the more astounding.
It started innocuously enough, with Grilled managing a sniff after Zachariasen had owned the centre of the field.
Chu Xin Lee, always on the lookout for the wonder pass, sent one at
Tian Yonghang in the tenth minute. Majit Nursultanov caused Tian some inconvenience, but got left on the wrong side by the veteran forward, and had to watch as he slugged a volley past Tomi Suvitie.
The Finnish goalkeeper wouldn't come off well in the 26th minute either, after Grilled had weathered another spell of Traktor possession. The home team had managed that with surprising assurance, and
Yuki Irie figured that he might as well have a go, driving a grounder towards goal towards the end of a spluttering move. Suvitie reacted very late, though, and it wound up creeping over the line.
Traktor head coach Martín Federico Partamian was up on his feet at that, but there was more to come. Four minutes later,
Moey Xin Seng made it 3-0 with a classic full-frontal header off
Gennady Dvorak's corner kick, which sent the Grilled fans behind goal into overdrive.
Ironically, Grilled's newfound confidence would prove to be their downfall, as their developing midfield abandoned their previous caution, and began trying to force their way up. Chu hung
Clark Won out to dry with an irresponsible sprint into nowhere in the 34th, allowing Artur Barbasov a clear route at
Valentin Batâr, which became 3-1.
Traktor were finally living up to their potential, and they soon pulled another one back. Uulu outfoxed
Yuki Irie with a deceptively simple stepover, but swung his effort too far out. It just about stayed in play, however, and after the hardworking Barbasov retrieved the ball, Faroese midfielder Zachariasen called for it, and duly stabbed it into the net.
They would then erase Grilled's big lead completely, after Suvitie took the ball off
Chu Xin Lee's feet. A lightning counter saw Batâr rounded by Majit Nursultanov, and the visitors might even have gone ahead, had the goalie not saved from Russian attacker Ruslan Gudnev, on their next venture.
Never probably had a Birds side trooped off the field after scoring thrice in the first half as downcast as they were today, but in truth, the scoreline was probably already generous to them. Main coaches
Djan Bacelar and Luis Alcántara had been locked in heated discussion for some minutes before the break, but going from their unchanged second-half lineup, they had not been able to agree on a remedy.
For a time, it seemed as if it wouldn't matter. Grilled started strongly once again, and with Zachariasen coming down with heatstroke, Traktor were stifled in their advances. Bacelar watched this development with interest, and he had seen enough by the 70th minute, putting
Leong Wan Kang on for
Tian Yonghang.
As it happened, Leong hadn't even touched the ball when Grilled went ahead again.
Ang Leong Kum had had his struggles in an unaccustomed defensive position, but he got his reward when the Traktor backline mishandled a lofted delivery from
Kalki Parvathaneni. Having lingered after the previous blocked free-kick, Ang gave Ciro Passone a sneaky nudge to put him off balance, before sliding his shot under Suvitie.
The visitors weren't happy about that, but the match officials had seen nothing. Not only that, Grilled appeared to have learnt their lesson from the first half, and concentrated fully on breaking down Traktor's moves from then on. Parvathaneni, who was emerging as the Birds' standout of the half, inserted himself in the thick of things, but had to moderate himself after a yellow in the 77th minute.
Grilled were five minutes away from the grand finals, when it all went pear-shaped. The relentless pressing was really taking its toll on the players, who were just a little slow in getting to Ethan Daws. They would rue it, as the S$16.4 million star, capped 32 times for the Welsh U-20 side, lined up a superb dipping strike that no goalie could have stopped.
Clearly not enthused at the prospect of extra time, the Birds went for broke, and Parvathaneni came within inches of deciding the contest. By some distance Grilled's most active man for the second half, the energetic youngster spotted
Gennady Dvorak breaking for the far post, and aimed a fine cross towards the area.
Sadly for both of them, Suvitie read that one well enough, and would be further bailed out by Majit Nursultanov after dropping the ball. Now resigned to a prolonged battle, the Birds swopped a visibly-exhausted Ang for
Hoàng Trung Quá, but Traktor would end up finishing it with Dordoyev's glancing header in injury time.
