Esteem Even
Aw Introduced
Arrogancae may retain an overall winning record against the Birds, if with it tilting the other way in recent seasons. Today would see a result that had only occured once before in the past 24 meetings, however - a repeat of the 2-2 draw in the S-League, eight years past.
Assuredly, both sides are now somewhat reduced from their heights from then. Arrogancae have been reorganizing, if not overly successfully this far, but retain top stars such as former Israeli national youth custodian Basil Nader and Swiss Number Ten Stefan Weckherlin, that must be the equal to anything Grilled have to offer in those positions currently. Grilled have continued dismantling their squad, which has however also brought fresh blood as in the debuting
Aw Keng Chuan. Aw had endured a taste of how tough the higher divisions could be in Friday's World Battle outing, and would have more protection today, sitting in front of the defence proper.
The dark clouds over The Cooking Pot hardly helped to lift spirits, as Grilled dominated the first half without tangible reward. With Arrogancae knowing what they were doing in sitting back, the Birds had to take what glimpses at goal they could, perhaps the best of those coming in the tenth minute when
Kalki Parvathaneni latched onto
Teo Chuan Yong's through ball, to bounce it off the crossbar as in his last appearance. His fire undimmed, Kalki would launch himself into a questionable scything tackle on Lim Eng Yong in the 26th minute, which sees him now suspended for his third yellow of the season.
Grilled's following opportunities got only more and more fleeting, as Arrogancae found their measure of the Birds' forwards.
Salah Kamel climbed high for a corner two minutes after Kalki's booking, but was never going to get a clean header off with Delroy Johns in the way.
Moey Xin Seng and
Chan Ze Han would then get their respective half-baked shots off, and the half would conclude with Daniel Pălcuţ brusquely cutting
Bhavya Panigrahi down, after the Grilled defender advanced up the left wing in support. That made for a yellow card for Pălcuţ too, then.
Bilal Mohammad Harun, still some distance below his best, would be replaced by
Chu Xin Lee for the second half, only for Chu's first non-contribution to be losing possession towards Arrogancae scoring on the counter. Both Panigrahi and Douglas were caught napping there, and neither would manage to catch Danila Chapkovich streaking in from the side, after former Tanzanian youth international John ShibilitiSanya had carried it most of the way.
Manuel Vadalà came off his line hesitatingly, but Chapkovich correctly identified his moment of vulnerability.
At least the Birds returned to creating chances of their own after that, as Arrogancae fell back to defend their lead. Actually busting into the penalty area remained a tall order, but Grilled would have openings aplenty offered around the box, if they wished to take them.
Salah Kamel accepted the invitation in the 63rd minute as he ran onto a stray pass perhaps a yard outside the area, and his right-footer curler made its way through the crowd, with Nader unsighted.
That was 1-1, and Grilled were in a better position than they had been all game, with Arrogancae wavering. Head coach Kan Ronglin would send Daiwik Furia on for Guno Mao to shore up their backline, but the newcomer wouldn't be able to prevent what was coming next. 74 minutes in, Lim Eng Yong did the understandable thing in blocking
Moey Xin Seng's advance some twenty yards from goal, only for
Bhavya Panigrahi to drop a tremendous free-kick over the five-man wall, and in at the unguarded far post.
The visitors were in real trouble now, and Marcel Condan was not about to allow a repeat, as he inserted himself in front of another Panigrahi take five minutes later, for which he was booked. That one drifted wide, however, and would be followed by
Gilbert Webb replacing Panigrahi for the final ten minutes. The period started so brightly for Grilled too, with
Kalki Parvathaneni tearing up the left side again, setting
Chan Ze Han up for an inexplicable miss straightaway.
Alas, it would be Arrogancae to save a point instead, with Grilled's defence slow to retreat after Kalki had sent a good effort over, two minutes later. The goal kick went long to Condan on the right flank with Douglas pressing upfield, and Aw would not be able to cover in time. The low cross ran through nicely for Gu Eng Wei to attack, and Vadalà got down too slow to block the cleanly-hit grounder.
