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FIXTURE HISTORY |
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Season 57 | L | 2 - 1 | League | Season 57 | W | 4 - 1 | League | Season 56 | L | 2 - 3 | Tournament (Group Phase) | Season 53 | L | 1 - 4 | Friendly | Season 53 | W | 4 - 1 | Friendly |
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Deadly Disruption
singnet Blitzed
The Birds breathed new life into their Singapore Masters ambitions with a much-needed 5-1 win, this one over singnet_utd. Their previous match in this tournament had seen Fang Kunxian shine, and though the midfield general was by no means bad, it never did reach those past heights.
singnet_utd's chosen eleven saw quite a bit of turnover in a short season, and the main draw among the lot had to be former Chinese national striker Hong Kunqi, who had joined them just a fortnight ago on a budget S$3.1 million deal. Otherwise, it was more a reshuffling of existing personnel, as veterans Jaakko Jämsén, Addie Mes and Ruben Weikamp made a bow.
Still smarting from their narrow defeat a month or so back, Grilled were quick to get going today. Mustaffa Kamal bin Sarman, on the contrary, had not, and he was taken by surprise when
Zhu Changchun drove past him and weighted an exquisite forward pass that slowed after its first bounce.
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim was onto it, and curled it past Nicola Pillitu.
It was game on, and singnet_utd were continually fighting fires for the next ten minutes or so.
Tian Yonghang's heroics in the Cup had not been forgotten by the Grilled support, and he obliged them with another quality finish, following
Low Aik Jia's build-up work.
singnet_utd rallied after that, and they found attacking down the flanks a valuable policy in the 20th minute, with Greek fullback Tellis Rouvas slipping one past
Wong Tian Han after bombing down the right; it wouldn't last, though, as Grilled resumed normal service, and the returning
Ling Fuquan made the most of the ball coming back off Mohd Safri's effort.
Low then sorely tested head coach
Djan Bacelar's patience with his sweep at William Fougeroux after overrunning the ball, which got him a straight yellow from the referee. He did at least have the decency to look chastised as Bacelar gestured angrily from the dugout, and was in fact on his best behaviour after that.
There were no changes from singnet_utd at half-time, though this could have been in large part been down to their starting wingers being suspended. They were indeed badly wanting for that extra something on the wings, and while Fougeroux and Mes had pace to burn, they were also becoming rather too predictable, to the Birds' defence.
Grilled were not as active as before, but a single good opportunity was enough to make it 4-1. There was a lot happening in front of singnet_utd's penalty area in the 62nd minute after a drawn-out series of passes, until
Lee Lee Hao shook it all up with a direct charge out of nowhere.
This was more than enough, results-wise, but the Birds were not satiated, having tasted blood. Their speedsters continued probing without pause, and while Jämsén did well to draw
Chow Ying Lee into fouling him, Low soon after sped past Ruben Weikamp to chip Pillitu for Grilled's fifth.
It could have been more as Grilled's wingers fired another barrage with five minutes remaining, but singnet_utd got the better of that one after being saved by the woodwork twice.