Vengeance Of A Sort
Chan Completion
Wednesday's Emerald Challenger Cup final defeat would be repaid at first opportunity, with the instrument of reparation being
Chan Ze Han - who got the third goal that might well have won it for the Birds then. It would be the only one in a frankly rather forgettable match that had the visitors simply looking to sneak something if they could, having abandoned their strikeforce entirely in a 5-5-0 formation.
Bhavya Panigrahi's suspension saw
Gilbert Webb back starting alongside
Douglas Carapaica in defence, and
Hilal Bakhtiar would leave the rest of the team basically unchanged otherwise, excepting
Moey Xin Seng and
Kalki Parvathaneni also restored to the first XI.
Vikram Mudaliar's unavailability explained Kalki in attack, but
Teo Chuan Yong being dropped might point to deeper issues, after his indifferent contribution against RFC in the finals.
Although Dennis Koenigsegg had distinguished himself that day, RFC head coach Antti Ravi would entrust his junior countryman Jan Paradysz with stopping Grilled's attack today. He did a fairly decent job of it too, with his awareness highlighted by several early dashes to help mop up through balls. His big test came on the half-hour, and had him block a point-blank effort by Douglas, before doing the splits against
Moey Xin Seng's second strike. An exceptionally brave piece of goaltending, but also Paradysz's last for the day, as he would have to go off having pulled his inner thigh muscles.
That saw the return of not-so-old nemesis Koenigsegg, who would be duly razzed by the home fans. The Polish keeper countered it with a fist-pump, serving only to further rile the Grilled support up. That only intensified their desire to see him humiliated, and
Douglas Carapaica nearly supplied the means in short order. Robbie's defence in depth meant inordinately much space for the Birds to rip it from deep were they of a mind to, and Douglas was definitely not the shy type. He needed no second invitation to slam a volley goalbound when teed up by
Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud, and it passed inches over the bar with Koenigsegg having barely moved.
Grilled were flying now, and a rash tackle from Pier Giuseppe Licciardello after
Heng Dong Chu's cross had passed through the penalty area untouched, would leave the Italian winger with a yellow card. The visitors would then have to continue with ten men after Ernesto Noguera had to be ferried off for a hamstring concern, but this also resulted in their biggest chance of the day, right before half-time.
Chan Ze Han had fired just over, and the big goal-kick dropped just right for Bülent Algüzar. The finish was excellent too, but
Jānis Salmiņš proved his worth with a full-length stretch to guide it around the post.
Moey Xin Seng would do a lot of shouting at that, but the Grilled captain had frankly been less than impressive in midfield himself, which led
Teo Chuan Yong to get his chance after sixty minutes. That did turn a switch on, and the Birds were suddenly creating a lot more. Chan, who had put it into the side-netting not too long ago, duly fed
Gilbert Webb for a go in the 65th, that sadly went way over. Next up was Abd Hadi after
Salah Kamel's strong carrying of the ball over twenty yards, but while his approach was impeccable, his final touch was heavy.
The home fans were noticeably restless as time ticked away with RFC clearly happy enough with a goalless draw, but this would all change when Chan received it from Heng on the edge of the opposition penalty area, in the 76th minute. Jens Petur Jakobsen was, as usual, stuck to him, but a sudden drop of the shoulder saw that first obstacle cleared. Chan then maintained his balance somehow as the retreating Ally Chappell tried to bump him off the ball, and then thumped it solidly into the back of the net, right before Patrik Gulyás took him clean off his feet.
That had to be a penalty had it caused Chan to miss, but the goal had been confirmed, and young Norwegian referee Kurt Stokke would let Gulyás off with a booking, perhaps mindful that RFC were already in reduced circumstances. Abd Hadi would try to press his luck with an angled effort that honestly wasn't that far off, and with the visitors not really set up to chase an equalizer, the Birds would take it to the end with little enough trouble. Bakhtiar would send
Yuta Nakakita and
Toma Tamiya on in the last minute, to shave off further seconds just in case.
