The EV Endured
Triumph Of Patience
The Birds extended their winning streak in the S-League to four matches, as they expertly navigated a potentially-dicey away visit to The EV today. Recent history was in favour of the Birds, with them having won all three meetings last season, and by at least three goals. There were few changes from the hosts from the side that greeted Grilled at the tail-end of that campaign, though Chng Puay Leng had been promoted to captain, and Alois Štajer would start ahead of Zbyněk Ševeček on form.
Aware of having to juggle two fronts,
Eren Serpin would make full use of his squad, with
Wu Jinglong and
Neeraj Muthyala assigned to wing duty today. Seeing as The EV had defeated Haha and Bot Team FC playing away, while only losing in a tight 3-5 to Club Dinosauria, there was however not all that much room to rest key players.
Chan Ze Han would not disappoint as centre-forward, having just single-handedly saved two points for the club last Sunday, and he would duly draw a reaction stop from Rizvi Younes in the eleventh minute.
It was turning out to be a clash of big personalities, and Angolan revelation João Infante Amanajás would express himself fully at the other end. Last season's Golden Boot winner had been relatively reserved thus far, with only a single goal scored against the Bots in the league. His basic threat remained very much there, however, and merely required the right trigger - such as Yuriy Benko's excellent cross in the 18th minute, which left even
Gilbert Webb no hope of stopping his header, once he got in the air.
Massoud Dob could hardly be faulted for not keeping that out, and it would be the responsibility of the Grilled outfielders to find a way back. The EV were more than tenacious in defending their lead, though, and the Birds' varied approaches would find little purchase, at this moment. Instead, it was Czech striker Alois Štajer who nearly dispossessed a vulnerable Panigrahi in the 32nd minute on the edge of his own penalty area, only to cop a yellow card for being a split-second too late.
Kalle ter Berg had become an unexpected but welcome second shooting option from midfield alongside Bilal, very useful to have given how the forwards could drive opposing defences back. This was what happened with five minutes left in the half, and
Moey Xin Seng knew exactly where the Dutchman was, as he swiveled to feed him for the strike. Kalle hit it with power and swerve, only to be denied by the upright.
While The EV had to be pleased with getting to half-time still ahead, one could hardly keep the Birds out indefinitely through mostly guts and workrate alone, and there was the feel that Grilled had to break through eventually. That wouldn't take too long, as it happened, as their suffocating pressure brought them a series of corners.
Bhavya Panigrahi would deliver three in succession entering the 53rd minute, and
Kalle ter Berg was there to convert the last one.
An unusually-mundane
Wu Jinglong would be replaced by
Chu Xin Lee on the right wing with half an hour to go, as Grilled chased the points, and this would immediately give Lars Smalbil an entirely different style of play to worry about. With both flanks now fully engaged, The EV were left slightly more exposed in the middle, and
Neeraj Muthyala would take advantage to make a run in from the left, to pick up Grilled's second goal.
That changed the entire complexion of the match, with the hosts now compelled to go back on the offensive, and from how dangerous they could get, it might have been wondered as to why they had stopped. However, the Birds did retain the advantage in a slugging contest, and they constructed a two-on-two on a fast break in the 78th minute.
Chan Ze Han's initial cannonball would be blocked by Younes, but
Vikram Mudaliar had positioned himself for just such an eventuality, and sidefooted the rebound home with ease.
The EV had to go all out now, but the Birds were controlling the direction of the game by now, and
Moey Xin Seng would put them 4-1 up, by chipping Younes after waltzing through a now-thinned defensive line. The last five minutes would nonetheless be extremely active, despite Serpin's efforts at calming the game down with two drawn-out substitutions, and the hosts would get another consolation goal out of it, coming from Alois Štajer early in stoppage time.
