Baddies On Top
Villains Open New Era
Sarcastic Fringeheads might have done the league double against the Birds, but the S-League title would not be theirs, as Villains F.C. outplayed Random Curiosity FC at home to navigate themselves to a first national league trophy. But back to downtown, it was another day, another double-digit goalfest, and another defeat for Grilled. Fringeheads came into the game with full knowledge that they could yet nose it were Villains and Curiosity to cancel each other out, and this would be amply reflected in the effort put out.
Moreover, it was not as if Fringeheads would have any remaining concerns for the season after today, and Polish head coach Wiesław Radkowski would strive to end his first season with a bang, in an attacking 3-5-2 - this despite counterattacking their way to a 4-0 result at The Cooking Pot. Against this,
Hilal Bakhtiar kept his players running the only way they knew, with
Moey Xin Seng leading the team out proudly, and a return to
Gilbert Webb and
Bhavya Panigrahi as the back two.
The difference between a team with ultimate glory to win, and another just hoping to avoid the worst, was stark; Fringeheads got off to a strong start, buoyed by a full house, and never looked like relinquishing their advantage in spirit. Led by Moey, it was all the Birds could do to hold them back, but not for more than 23 minutes. The hosts were camping along the outside of Grilled's penalty area by then, and Swedish veteran Finn Karlsson would make to test
Jānis Salmiņš, with a sudden lob to his far post. Salmiņš backtracked, but couldn't get more than the slightest of touches, and it crept in for one-nil.
Grilled couldn't be faulted for passivity at conceding, at least, and they would seek recompense with the greatest vitality they had shown thus far this game.
Gilbert Webb would somehow be found at Fringeheads' left post as
Vikram Mudaliar rushed it from kick-off, but the Scots defender pulled it too far away from Artur Rosa Gomes Oliveira. Not a problem as the attempted quick throw out was charged down, and from the free-kick awarded,
Chan Ze Han would be hauled back by Ivan Borichev, just inside the box. A penalty it was, and
Bhavya Panigrahi waited for Oliveira to commit, before rolling it to the open half of goal.
That burst of confidence wouldn't last for the Birds, and they were disappointingly back on full defensive, before too long. This was hardly where they excelled, and it was perhaps inevitable that they would leak goals before long. The uncommon compatibility between Karlsson and Heine Andreassen didn't help Grilled, as was displayed in the 34th minute, when the former brushed it to the side for his strike partner to sweep past the stranded goalie.
The favour would shortly be returned as Andreassen then stepped over Gareth Illes' through pass hit with pace, which took Panigrahi completely out of the equation too, four minutes on. Karlsson seemed to have let it run too far, but his finish was exquisite. It would then be 4-1 for Fringeheads before half-time, as Iraqi midfielder Bashar Muntazir slotted it between Salmiņš' legs, to great acclaim from the home fans. To add to the injury,
Moey Xin Seng would be yellow carded afterwards, due to him having fouled Mel Vayeshnoi in the build-up, to no avail.
This had Fringeheads briefly atop the live table, but not for long as Ciprian Huiet opened for Villains against Curiosity. Well, the home team had done what they could, but Grilled were not about to take it lying down. Actually battling into a realistic position to shoot was problematic, but they were at least gaining parity in the middle, with Moey being on the receiving end of a beefy Vayeshnoi challenge in the 50th minute. The Fijian would be booked too, and they both saw the funnier side of it, in a brief suspension of tension.
Víctor Morillo would replace Ivan Borichev a while later with the 37 year-old Latvian limping a bit, and the Birds continued to improve, with
Kalki Parvathaneni making the first real intrusion in a long while about the 62nd minute. There was no opening for the cross, sadly. Webb would go off in turn for
Douglas Carapaica three minutes later, but this would not bring any upturn in fortunes for Grilled, as Andreassen took the opportunity to cut in from the left, and join Karlsson on a brace.
Karlsson would be taken out of contention for a hat-trick as Ryan Kerr came on for him with twenty minutes left, to some disappointment from the Swede. Well, it wasn't a good period for Fringeheads regardless, as their previous fervour spluttered, what with them being four goals up. Oliveira would block well from an enlivened
Vikram Mudaliar in the 76th minute, but there would be no denying the Grilled Number Nine in the 79th, as he pressured an engaged Morillo at just the right instant, to get a killer touch on the ball for 5-2.
Heng Dong Chu had been waiting to come on for Kalki for some minutes, and would have to skip the main celebrations, though he did make it a point to fistbump Mudaliar en route to taking his place at the right wing. Grilled were certainly looking the more productive team now, and
Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud's magical lob in the 82nd minute saw a few worried faces in the home section. Not that this was likely to matter much in the bigger picture, since Villains were three up at this point.
On the Birds' part, with -= Manchester United =- 1-4 down to Haha, they were also at least almost certainly safe from automatic relegation at this point, and the finish was therefore a lot less stressful than it could have been. Kerr would make good use of his time with what would surprisingly be his first league goal of the campaign, from a classic centre-forward's header off Marco Foppa's cross from the right, just before the winger went off for Zaki Taleb. Grilled also had one more, with
Douglas Carapaica also opening his league account for the season, with
José Luiz Velho then getting a few minutes in.
