Three Points Unlocked
Abd Hadi Heats It
Good cheer has been something of a rarity at The Cooking Pot this season, but there would be a measure to accompany today's whitewash of the visiting Crypto Moon, despite the terrible weather. This was not at all outside expectations, not after Crypto Moon had arrived with zero points from their first ten league matches, and there were no signs of that changing from the get-go today.
Still, Crypto Moon's 3-4 home result against the Birds had been about the closest they had come to breaking that drought. It had to also be considered, though, that of the side that marched out that day, only two have remained: Ben Göttler, playing leftback today, and defender Maxwell Whitehead. The rest have been mercilessly culled by head coach Horst Peter Sonnenberg, who may well be calling time on his nine-season tenure, by clearing the deck for a successor.
Theirs would, then, be a 4-5-1 with Liviu Bulai furthest in front, if with the 21 year-old Romanian still more of an advanced sweeper than anything. The Birds were in comparison virtually unchanged, if with
Bilal Mohammad Harun still not in the conversation due to injury, of course. Otherwise,
Bhavya Panigrahi would be back in the starting lineup after being left out for
Sølve Lunde in the reverse fixture, with
Shekar Kannan remaining on the right.
It wasn't a particularly great day for Panigrahi, that said, after he miscued a penalty in the sixth minute, following the visitors' best - and as it turned out, only clear - chance of the day, that had Renato Čubrić marginally overhit a through ball to Eduardo Miguieles. It would be a soul-drainingly dull half an hour following that, as Crypto Moon made the most of the slow pitch.
Vikram Mudaliar rang in with the Birds' first shot on target from open play in the 31st minute, but that had Alexandru-Cristian Ploscariu come up with another excellent block.
Panigrahi then sullied himself further with a late hack on Renato Čubrić, though the removal of the Croatian midfielder would actually be the biggest break that Grilled had received up till then. Sorin Bertescu was eager to get on the field, but it was soon evident that he had little of Čubrić's positional sense, as
Salah Kamel's goal revealed. Freed up to take stock for once,
Moey Xin Seng successfully hit it wide to Kannan, who responded with a questioning cross struck with good pace - that Kamel took on the volley with grace.
That was the end of Crypto Moon's stubborn commitment to holding their lines, as the point they had been coveting would have to be actively sought once again. Sadly for them, this was playing against their strengths, and for all of Ploscariu's agility, he would not be able to keep Grilled out forever. He would outdo himself with an incredible tip-over on the backfoot from
Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud's 38th minute worldie, and could not be faulted for not keeping Abd Hadi's next attempt out, after the attacker had lost his man cleanly on the turn.
With the result largely guaranteed,
Hilal Bakhtiar would turn up the pressure in the second half, with
Heng Dong Chu and
Teo Chuan Yong sent on - with a brief to rack up the goals. Heng took it to heart, and would get on the scoresheet just six minutes later, even if it wasn't quite by his usual methods. Panigrahi, perhaps stung by his previous failings, would go for the short free-kick in the 51st minute, and a clever change of direction by new captain
Chan Ze Han would catch the entire opposition defence wrongfooted. Heng only had to get his touch correct, which he did.
Vikram Mudaliar would be another who was not having the best of days, as he did everything right seven minutes later, only for Ploscariu to get Buffonesque with a left-legged stop, after seemingly being beaten by Mudaliar's grounder towards his outside.
Chu Xin Lee had been waiting for something like that, fortunately for Grilled, and the midfielder would get to the ball a whisker before Jan-Willem Broekhuisen, to make it four.
The rainstorm would only gain in strength about then, which made movement - much less football - a tedious act.
Sølve Lunde exited for
Douglas Carapaica with ten minutes remaining, which did not make much of a splash, though the Birds did go for a final goal as added time loomed, at the urging of Chan; Mudaliar was once more denied by Ploscariu as he blasted it from distance, but again this would lead to another Grilled man scoring, as
Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud profited from the ensuing indirect free-kick.
