Counting Costs
Hovaness Noubaryan pointedly left
Islom Davlatov out of his comments after the game, despite heated accusations from Guido Leuckert that Davlatov was intentionally out to hurt ArSenal's players. "As far as I'm concerned, it was a top-grade performance from us. Bilal's a real gem - goal-getting wasn't on his resume, but that's four in four games already!"
Noubaryan recognized that concerns are growing about
Massoud Dob's injury-proneness, but suggested that it was just a freak accident. "The docs inform me that he should be back in training in a few days. Also,
Yuki Irie's hamstring tear isn't as bad as it was feared - we might even see him back in action towards the end of the season."
On the league front, all eyes were on the top-of-the-table clash between Ropelearner FC and ~Pollen~, and the title chase got infinitely more interesting as the visitors dealt Ropelearner their first defeat, to pull within one point. ~Pollen~ definitely pulled out all the stops, and were irrepressible in a 5-2 away upset.
The result means that Grilled are within a win of top spot themselves. Fourth-placed newbies are newbies are now six points away, with their two-nil victory over -Blitz- moreover affording them a nice cushion. Elias Yie is suspended for the return fixture, with three other players having to go off injured during the vicious encounter.
Cloudz United would finally get their maiden Division Three win, in a 4-2 against Red Chaos that further got them out of the basement. Red Chaos' reliance on possession proved their downfall, as Thaddeus Luc's excellent strike on a fifth minute breakout gave Cloudz faith that they could take something out of this game.
The Buns didn't escape sacrifices, as man of the moment
Morgan Hu had to go off with a bandaged head against Puh erh, after stooping low to meet a dipping cross. Nonetheless, Farmer Bunnies prevailed 3-0, with reserve forward
Daniel Nguyen drawing much appreciation from the rank-and-file - for his tireless endeavour as much as his goal, which calmed a jittery match.
"I can't fault him if he wants to leave for more minutes." Buns diehard Peter Tan noted. "But he's stayed while never making a fuss about it. Every good team needs backups like Nguyen."
Fortunately, Hu would be ascertained not to have a concussion after a thorough check-up, which means that he should be available when Singapore take on Brazil on Friday. "I'm relieved." he said. "There are plenty of big names in international football, but none with Brazil's cachet."
Finally, Grilled International battled to a 5-5 draw at Finnish club International Myyrmäki, coming back from three down to lead 5-3 by the 68th, thanks to doubles from
Micky bin Kadir and
Fausto Perono. Myyrmäki were stunned but still alive, though, and they got themselves back together, with Štěpán Jedlička finding an equaliser off a wicked deflection, nine minutes from time.
Sazwan bin Hj Muhd Salleh was at a loss as to how to respond. "I'd have grabbed the point when we were three down, but it just feels like we've thrown two points away right now."
