No /s
Captain Marvel
Pundits had to begin to recognize Grilled Birds as bona-fide title contenders, after they mastered reigning champions Sarcastic Fringeheads on their own ground. This was a feat that only Haha and Bot Team FC had managed in the previous four seasons, although the Birds did of course pull off a very memorable 5-3 victory at The Cooking Pot, when they were last in the S-League. Half of that Fringeheads XI has since left the club, while of the remainder, only veteran defenders Vincent Chan and Mladen Jurkot, and playmaker David Koppensteiner remained as starters - a testament to how ruthless Bahraini player-coach Satrap Kabiri has been, in upholding standards.
The 38 year-old Kabiri has also cut himself from contention, it went without saying, and they were hardly about to skim on their main forwards, with Ramsès Prats and Finn Karlsson costing well into the eight figures apiece. Tactics-wise, it was a 5-3-2 quite similar to the 4-3-3 that Kabiri had attempted three seasons ago, though Grilled could not be accused of much additional innovation either. There were very few material changes such as
Bhavya Panigrahi taking over from
Yuta Nakakita in the starting lineup, and the biggest was probably
Eren Serpin going all-in on narrowing the pitch, with
Chu Xin Lee and
Salah Kamel tasked with squeezing play from the flanks.
This was a bold move against a team the level of Fringeheads, obviously, who would certainly not be dictated to. All present knew what was at stake, what with both clubs tied on points at the top of the table, and as such it could be forgiven that the first ten minutes were spent merely sounding each other out; Grilled were not-too-subtly being invited to stake their claim in mass, an offer they graciously refused, what with Fringeheads skipper Zaki Taleb and former Chinese international Wu Jinglong waiting for the bait to be taken on the wings.
The standoff could hardly go on forever, and when the Birds finally made their real moves, it couldn't be denied that the ensuing events went to the hosts' plans. The first big counterattack would conclude with Chew Fu Chuan thundering a warning over
Massoud Dob's goalmouth, and a few minutes later, Prats would earn a penalty after tumbling convincingly upon darting across
Gilbert Webb. Portuguese referee Albino Santos stuck to his guns, but from Grilled's point of view, justice would be served as Chew's mind games didn't work on Dob, who stood his ground to smother the ball coming up the middle.
It was then Dob's turn to be smothered by his teammates, as that save re-inspired his teammates. Still, the action would largely come in paired events, as Fringeheads were disciplined in wanting Grilled to commit, before attempting to hit on the break. For instance,
Kalki Parvathaneni's abortive strike would transition into a big chance for Prats, as Taleb advanced on cue down the right. This eventually brought Fringeheads' desired goal, as Chew made up for his earlier poor penalty, with a superlative free-kick that twisted itself beyond Dob's fists, at the last instant.
With just five minutes remaining in the first half, Grilled's hopes of not ending it behind were dim, and were extinguished when Radu Pandelescu made another great stop off
Vikram Mudaliar, as he had done against
Chu Xin Lee right before Chew's goal. The interval only seemed to have helped Sarcastic Fringeheads' mission, as they came out with by far the better mentality and rhythm. With the pressure now fully on the Birds to make things happen, Fringeheads could work their favourite picking-off angle, and David Koppensteiner came within inches of shattering Grilled's remaining conviction, with a scorcher off the top of Dob's crossbar in the 48th minute.
Little suggested that Grilled would be able to turn this around, as the hosts continued almost toying with their visitors. Mudaliar's fuse would run out soon enough, as another offside call went against him, and he received a yellow card and the crowd's derision, for smashing the ball high into the stands. At the other end, Fringeheads continued working steadily towards a likely game-killing second goal, with Prats embarassing
Moey Xin Seng in their 62nd minute duel. Fortunately, that still held the striker up for long enough, for help to arrive.
The match finally began to turn the Birds' way after about 65 minutes, coincidentally as Kabiri signalled for his team to further compact itself with a view towards lead preservation. That little detail made all the difference for Grilled, so it appeared, and clear openings began to present themselves as additional space - albeit further out - opened up. Not a problem for
Chu Xin Lee, who was more than happy to give it a go from the edge of the penalty area, and knocked a powerful effort past Radu Pandelescu perhaps aided by a slight deflection.
This was not what Fringeheads had been banking on, and their regret would progress to mild panic, as Grilled duly went ahead four more minutes on. Grilled were operating to their strengths now, and in a direct hammer-versus-anvil situation of central attack against central defence, not even Fringeheads' worthies could be honestly said to have the advantage. Kalki suggested just why he had kept
Chan Ze Han out of today's starting lineup, as he engaged two defenders with intricate close control, before squaring it just right for his captain to finish.
Kabiri was nothing if not a quick study, and he would immediately reform his players into a 4-3-3, with Vincent Chan substituted to make way for an additional striker in Ryan Kerr. Fullbacks Andrej Apatič and Răzvan Patca were instructed to push forward, at the same time.
Eren Serpin couldn't let this go unanswered, and he unleashed his trump card of
Chan Ze Han on for Kalki, in response. Kabiri wasn't done, though, and shortly afterwards made his final change, putting Latvian midfielder Ivan Borichev on for a tiring Koppensteiner, with the express intention of holding the centre while finding an equalizer - or more - from the wings.
Sadly for Sarcastic Fringeheads, their best-laid plans would come to naught, partly because Grilled weren't about to be intimidated, fitness-wise. The Birds would match the best their hosts could offer in terms of sheer bloddy-minded running down of opponents, leaving scarce few possessions for them to try and capitalize on. Nonetheless, the match remained electric to the very last minute, with the commentators reminding all that Fringeheads were always capable of another of their last-gasp moves, as already exhibited against Bukit Gombak and then Haha these past weeks.
Instead, they would be beaten at their own game, as Grilled pulled the late goal trick off today. Given that only one minute of extra time had been awarded, it was entirely understandable that Radu Pandelescu came up to contest what was almost certainly the last corner of the match, but the worst came to pass as
Bilal Mohammad Harun sent it straight down the pitch with a big header, and
Moey Xin Seng needed only to place his shot sufficiently against a frantically-retreating Borichev.
