Return To The Finals
Mudaliar Seals Semis
Grilled's newfound penchant for last-second goals continued, as
Chan Ze Han's strike against Club Dinosauria would be followed by
Vikram Mudaliar's own, against three-time champions UDNTK FC today. The former Kim Tae Hee FC had lost their latest four meetings with the Birds, including a 2-6 in the league earlier this season, and a 1-4 in the cup last term, and as such it was little wonder that Grilled were favoured going into this match. It was a different story on the pitch, however, as UDNTK FC ran it a lot closer than those previous results would have predicted.
Then again, with the reduced cup schedule, it had been said by the pundits that the Holland flag-bearers had not been thoroughly tested in their trip to the semi-finals, with their biggest test coming last Wednesday against the Deinos. That they eventually won it only against in extra-time, against a team that had been reduced to ten men since Che Zambil Ridwan's 39th minute dismissal, did not exactly raise their stock. However, a win remained a win, as Grilled Birds' head coaches have often remarked with reference to themselves.
UDNTK's venerable Tan Hock Ping would keep with the same conservative 4-5-1 approach, that hadn't done them all too much good at The Cooking Pot last month. However, they would keep Quincy Ton on the bench, with Croatian national team hopeful Andrija Galov leading the line alone. As for Spanish captain Joan Carda, who had found the winner in the last round, he would drop back into midfield, where UDNTK's depth was such that they could field an entirely changed midfield five from that which handled Deinos.
Switching-up was something entirely possible for the Birds as well, by the way, and
Chan Ze Han would return to central midfield together with
Chu Xin Lee, with
Salah Kamel displacing
Heng Dong Chu on the right.
Mateja Jeftić has found it tough to break back into the starting lineup after his thigh injury sustained against the Phoenixes, which opened the way for
Gilbert Webb to claim his fiftieth cup start for the Birds.
With UDNTK FC again resorting to operating on the counter, it was up to the Birds to make the first moves - which were however frankly rather unconvincing. It was instead UDNTK who looked to have taken the lead, when Carda played it early through the middle, and Galov split the Grilled back two with a first-time flick on for Benjamin Godlieb.
Massoud Dob took out both the Dutch playmaker and the ball, and it might well have swung heavily to UDNTK then, had Francisco Alfaro called the penalty and potential red card; the Cuban referee wasn't interested at all, however, and replays suggested that he was correct.
Still, the UDNTK FC were furious at that decision, and they were making it loudly known even four minutes later, when they had further reason to be aggrieved.
Wu Jinglong seemed to have unintentionally raked Godlieb in the eyes as he came in from the right, and although the latter went to ground, Wu kept on advancing. The Birds stroked it around in front of the UDNTK penalty area for about twenty seconds, with the opponents making sporadic appeals for a stoppage, but Alfaro was again unmoved. This ended with
Bhavya Panigrahi making an unobtrusive run inside, that wsn't picked up by anybody, and resulted in his third cup goal of this edition.
UDNTK FC head coach Tan Hock Ping had to be restrained as he made to protest the refereeing in person, but settled for a long unscheduled planning session, as Godlieb received attention from the medics for some minutes before the restart. They would put more focus on retaining possession, and with their nerves calmed, would present a more consolidated threat to Grilled's defence. They were more than tidy in midfield when left to it, and a beautiful combination in the 22nd minute left Andrija Galov with a clear look some ten yards out. The Croat doesn't pass up such opportunites often, and curled it well around
Massoud Dob, in at the right post.
Their game then went back to the original wait-and-see, which had UDNTK FC live dangerously;
Vikram Mudaliar had a lob land atop the netting soon after Galov's equalizer, while
Wu Jinglong had a couple of attempts roughly stopped around the 32nd minute to the evident delight of the UDNTK supporters, who loudly feted Zakaria Chitinashvili for sending the winger flying. The Birds remained unrattled, however, and
Salah Kamel's approach from the left side in the 35th, would result in
Moey Xin Seng stabbing it in at the near post, for 2-1.
Half-time came and went in a jiffy, and the match resumed with UDNTK FC apparently having found additional mojo. After
Kalki Parvathaneni hit it slightly over Martin Barbara's goalmouth in the 48th minute, the match would flow UDNTK FC's way for a time, beginning with the direct counterattack that had Juan Monge repay like for like. UDNTK FC had Grilled under heavy siege from around the 55th minute, and after Mariano Miguel crashed it back off the crossbar, a following wave brought a mad scramble that left Galov open, to level it for a second time.
Recognizing that UDNTK FC were beginning to run away with it,
Eren Serpin would take concrete steps to inject some fire in his side, as he ordered
Bilal Mohammad Harun on to introduce additional steel, with
Chu Xin Lee having to come off. While Bilal did make an instant impact, with his forcing of a turnover resulting in a barely-saved effort from Mudaliar, UDNTK FC stabilized after Gerald Gajic's canny forcing of a stoppage. That got the Austrian booked, but given how it gave his team time to regroup, it was probably worth it.
The pace of the game would gradually taper off, with the Birds realizing that they could be one mistake from the end of their cup defense, and their opponents in no rush to try and force it either. Extra time was looming after a largely-forgettable final half-hour... and then Grilled made one last serious push, with an eye on the clock. UDNTK FC had to know it was coming, but
Vikram Mudaliar's individual brilliance came through anyway, with no defender willing to risk a penalty after he had trapped an incoming pass from Kalki; that would doom them in any case, as the Number Nine feigned a turn to the outside, only to go the other way and bend it into the far corner of goal.
