Lasca Again
Mudaliar Proves Point
Four seasons after their 1-3 loss to Farmer Bunnies in Singapore, Cambodian Division Three frontrunners Lascaibinenuiasa would invite Grilled Birds over, but to much the same result. The most significant holdover from that end-of-season friendly was Italian goalkeeper Giuseppe Ghetta, now 23, who operated as a central defender then. The pain, one assumes, has to be much the same.
It didn't take very long for Ghetta to become intimately involved, as he found himself sprawling at
José Luiz Velho's feet, as the Brazilian jinked his way around Chhay Peng after receiving an abrupt pass from the right. It was merely a taste of things to come for Ghetta, although Velho didn't have it all his way either. He would slide his way into a more-yielding than expected corner flag about 18 minutes in, and given how Muthyala is out for a fortnight after a similar incident,
Hovaness Noubaryan looked extremely concerned.
Thankfully, it wasn't nearly that serious, and the Birds would score the opener from the restart. Lascaibinenuiasa's throw didn't manage to get the ball far, and
Moey Xin Seng would retrieve it double-quick, before moving it back upfield in stops and starts. There didn't seem to be an obvious target when Moey eventually tapped it forward, but
Prokop Mottl appeared where he wasn't supposed to be, to make the most of it.
The hosts would then have to weather a pretty heavy storm, as Grilled grew steadily in menace.
Jérémy Tarin would surely have potted his free-kick in the 22nd minute were it not for Ghetta's incredible fingertip save, and although the goalie didn't actually get a touch on
Chan Ze Han's one-on-one effort eight minutes later, his presence had to factor into the latter's narrow miss.
Lascaibinenuiasa's 4-5-1 wasn't helping their cause much, but they would earn their only clear chance of the match towards the end of the half. A stiff challenge on an airborne Chhourn Khun got the hosts a free-kick, and it was
Dan Seng's turn to shine against Chankrisna Chhoub's commendable effort that cleared the wall. Unfortunately for the hosts, it was as good as it got for them, and
Vikram Mudaliar smashed Grilled's second goal in after a silly tackle by Sophan Em handed the initiative right back to the Birds.
Skipper Samay Kim wasn't pleased at all about that, but having been isolated on the right for the vast majority of the proceedings, he wasn't exactly radiating influence either. It was all he could do to try and shore up Lascaibinenuiasa's backline, but it was always bailing a leaky boat. Mudaliar remained a constant thorn in their side, and he would stab a third past Ghetta with vigour, ten minutes into the second half.
The home team were determined to at least get a goal back, and young central midfielder Sotharith Srea won much appreciation from the crowd, for his adventurous dribble that nearly caught Grilled by surprise. In fact,
Rashid bin Ahmad was a step slow, and led with his elbow into the challenge. That was the end of Srea's day as he left clutching his ribcage, but Lascaibinenuiasa weren't able to make much of the free-kick, despite substitute Leap Choeun's clever run to the back post.
Srea's departure left his team's midfield in temporary disarray, which was enough for the Birds to do significant damage.
Iman Eshrafi and
José Luiz Velho would plunder further goals in the next few minutes as Lascaibinenuiasa struggled to cope, which was finally enough for the visiting Birds.
