Nigma Shut Door
Srbić Shutout
The Birds had not performed well against quality flat defences for some time, and despite TeamNigma limiting themselves to three at the back, that and the added coverage from Iuliu Marcu would be enough to strangle Grilled's attack. Their own fangs would kick in after the hour had gone, and Swiss boss Gwendolin Rutschi will have to be delighted with a well-thought strategy perfectly executed, as they ran out 0-4 winners at The Cooking Pot.
Such was not entirely out of the expectations of
Tian Yonghang, who recognized Nigma's defensive steel from their first two league fixtures - and in Zach Lee and Terry Lam, they had former national youth internationals running their midfield. This had to be something for
Chad Thach and
Chia Kwang Tse to aspire to, and the former would actually outdo them for some brief seconds, in the sixth minute. Thach would run away from Lam to catch
Gandhik Chitre's considered pass on the outside of his boot, but what would have been an exhilarating goal, instead scuffed the bar.
That was more or as as good as it got for the Birds for the rest of the game, which had them barely keeping up with their more-assured visitors otherwise. Nigma were in no hurry to test
Dimitris Germanakos, although a sudden burst of activity midway through the half did see Italian winger Vittorio Pruzzi answer Thach's crossbar-skimmer in kind.
Bilal Mohammad Harun went on a rare rampage on the goal-kick, only to guide his finish about a yard wide, which then had Tom Winna eke a desperate dive out of Germanakos, three minutes later.
Nigma did seem slightly annoyed not to have converted their dominance into actual goals as half-time approached, with Pruzzi set off by
Aw Keng Chuan dispossessing him in midfield. That had him embark on a ten-metre chasedown ending in a terrible challenge from behind, that will see him out for Nigma's next match. Grilled took their time setting up the free-kick, which
Bhavya Panigrahi eventually lifted wide right, for
Enrique Baena to try a volley. The ball spent too long in the air, however, and Baena could only make a hash of it, with the defenders closing in.
Half-time had
Lim An Keng and
Paulino Trindade come in for Chia and Baena, but it would soon be clear about which team had been consciously holding back. Nigma would slowly up their pace throughout the second half, with Grilled's forwards worn down by mostly-fruitless shadow-chasing, and they would score the opener in the 60th minute with Ukrainian forward Maksym Vepric slipping
Gilbert Webb. That was always coming, to be fair, but it didn't make it any easier to accept for the Grilled supporters.
Chan Ze Han, who has been enduring some lackluster personal displays thus far, tried to make a difference - but had to contend with a Hüseyin Kağan Levne in great form, and determined to stay glued to him. Chan's persistence about the 67th minute would only have Jürgen Knesebeck pick his pocket after he got isolated at the corner flag, and the German fullback would claim the free-kick, after a terrible bodycheck from Trindade to stop Nigma's counter. Knesebeck went for placement over power, but went overboard, which made it easy enough for Germanakos.
The Birds would have their own set-piece opportunities either side of Chan's departure for
Moey Xin Seng, but
Bhavya Panigrahi couldn't keep it down both times. In between, Terry Lam would flaunt the loping running style that had got him into the national youth side against Saudi Arabia, coming up on the outside of Vepric. The release was perfectly-timed, and Lam bent it past Germanakos without hesitation for Nigma's second.
It was a question of how many more would come, as Grilled couldn't hide that they had all but exhausted themselves by this time - and moreover expended all their subs. Moey tried to keep it together from the front, but the visitors were just waltzing directly through by now. In the end, Lucian Grigoraş and Tom Winna would add two more, as the Holland Village club sit pretty atop the table with nine points out of nine.