Icelanders Gassed
Best Remedy
The Birds didn't dwell overlong on their painful defeat to singnet_utd, and lifted themselves by hitting four past Icelandic Division Three leaders Solgasset. The light-blue-and-yellow clad opponents arrayed themselves in a conservative 4-5-1, and appeared to be reserving their energy for their bid to take a first national honour, with their version of the Sapphire Challenger Cup just two days away.
Grilled had, of course, narrowly missed out on that too in the past weeks, and moreover had little reason to hold back. Offensive winger
Low Aik Jia, whom some had identified as a possible saviour in the club's recent losses, was returned to the left, and
Ling Fuquan's replacement by
Lee Lee Hao at the back further suggested that the Birds were going all out.
What happened would be an endorsement of the free-attacking school of thought, and though Solgasset's defensive nous was not exactly on par with singnet_utd's, they were close enough for some parallels to be drawn. As on Sunday, the Birds spent most of their time in the attacking half, with the difference being that they were actually producing regular shots on target.
Solgasset had kept
Chow Ying Lee from taking advantage after
Clément Meyer's bizarre cross dropped at him in the 11th minute, but they were unable to stop the Grilled Number Ten from doing it right in the 21st. Former German youth international Steffen Matthias Puhl's free-kick, awarded after
Gene Filippone had blocked him off, was cut out by Lee. The ball was returned straight back upfield, and Chow showed great presence of mind to take it on the fly.
It was a near-repeat of the weekend's travails following that, however. Flamboyant Romanian goalie Mihai Todescu dropped impressively to save Filippone's downwards header, and then tipped
Wong Ping Shun's attempt onto the post with a short pause in between.
Woon Shun An then had only himself to blame when he pushed Wong's intelligent short pass hopelessly wide from five yards in the 28th minute, when it seemed easier to score.
The stories would finally diverge with the onset of the second half. Fittingly, it was
Low Aik Jia, whose directness was so missed on Sunday, who would supply the cutting edge. Despite the presence of Peruvian U-20 star José Cotes, himself famed for his speed, and Einius Nūtautas on his flank, Low nevertheless managed to get past both and angle a free header in for
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim. Ever an impetuous spirit, Low then wagged a finger at his Solgasset markers, which only served to inflame their fans.
Fortunately, Solgasset yet showed no intention to take the game to the Birds, and instead continued to wait patiently for a clear counterattacking opening. Grilled were now careful not to leave too many holes open, though, and Solgasset's perseverance would not be rewarded. Instead,
Clément Meyer drummed in a third after 78 minutes following a long build-up, which effectively killed off their remaining hopes.
Current tournament leading scorer
Rinor Isufi would enter for Chow during the after-goal stoppage, and Solgasset would then make their bid for a consolation. Johann Schaekers' spill as he sprinted into Grilled's penalty area was a tad too intentional for referee Alberto Leon's liking, sadly for them, and the Belgian could only protest half-heartedly at being shown the yellow card.
Wong Ping Shun would then put his seal on the result through his thunderous right peg after storming down the right, which had Mihai Todescu shaking his head in resignation.
