All Right At Ariege
Parvathaneni Keeps It Up
Omani Division Two club ARIEGE OMAN F.C went down 0-3 at home to Grilled Birds, who weren't exactly fluent themselves either. That it ended this way owed much to 24 year-old
Kalki Parvathaneni, whose increasing maturity was underlined by his outstanding efficiency even in midfield.
First-choice goalie
Massoud Dob had also been cleared for this friendly, and from his pre-match warm ups, he seemed back to full fitness. As for the hosts, they had reserved most of their best, but still boasted of a very strong left side composed of Turkish winger Alpay Nami, and veteran striker Majeed Isa. Wojciech Wacławski was picked too, but functioned as a roving stopper.
ARIEGE head coach Suphi Hüma was clear before the match about trainees Ozan Ümit Peşmürde and Hafith Hassan Al-Yaaruby being available, and the duo definitely weren't shy about putting themselves in the shop window; unfortunately for them, the game didn't turn out as they had hoped, but for different reasons.
The Birds conceded the first big chance as the teams jostled for dominance, after a sudden breakdown on their left saw Hafith win a free-kick against
Rashid bin Ahmad, who quite justifiably saw it as simulation. Mozambique defender and set piece specialist Miguel Sá lined it up, but Dob had it covered all the way, even as the ball flashed narrowly wide.
Grilled were making little headway with
Leong Wan Kang once more eager but disappointing, and it would take a spark of genius from
Chu Xin Lee to finally break the hosts down. A dragback and sweet turn saw him lose two ARIEGE players in quick succession, and his ensuing cross after taking it all the way to the endline found
Bilal Mohammad Harun ready and waiting.
That first goal in the 35th minute was followed by another very quickly, in a display that probably didn't help Ozan's resume. The promising young Turk was left looking silly as he tried to get himself out of trouble with a bold first touch to find room, only for
Kalki Parvathaneni to explode right onto it. There was no way that Ozan was recovering that from a Kalki in full stride, and Tormod Johansen couldn't do much either in the one-on-one.
Kalki's lethality was further emphasized a few minutes after that, as he again wrecked Johansen with a sumptuous strike, concluding a flurry of activity initiated by
Vikram Mudaliar. Wojciech Wacławski took this one particularly badly, and there were some strong words exchanged between him and young Anas Nawwaf Al-Alawy, whom he felt had not exerted himself sufficiently.
Part of ARIEGE's problems stemmed from a massive imbalance in quality, laterally speaking, and this would not be addressed in the second half. Grilled therefore carried on as they had, albeit with
Chong Tse Chu now on for Rashid, and
Jérémy Tarin unleashed a screamer from the edge of the penalty area in the 54th minute, following a long sequence of passes. It went slightly high, but was close enough to have Johansen sprawl into his own net.
It was then Hafith Hassan Al-Yaaruby's turn to suffer a blow to his ambitions, as he covered
Leong Wan Kang on another concerted Grilled push. Leong's flying kick on Chu's delivery was indeed thrown off, but the cost to Hafith was an uncontrolled tumble that appeared to tweak his right calf. He would have to make his way gingerly off, with Issam Kamal Al-Adawy entering in his stead.
The Birds tried but were unable to add to their lead, first through substitute
Kohei Okuya, who replaced a subdued
Prokop Mottl in the 70th, as Wacławski recovered the ball on the line. Next up was
Leong Wan Kang, who had improved markedly over the course of the game. However, his impressive curler to the top corner was snatched aside by the alert Johansen.
ARIEGE made a move for a consolation late on, and Miguel Sá nearly made good in the 83rd minute, as he bore down on
Massoud Dob on a failed tackle by
Remco van der Ban. Dob was again undaunted, as he had been in a similar situation in the first half, and
Chong Tse Chu was happy to clean up in the aftermath.
