City Crash
Chan Not Stopping
Chan Ze Han's exceptional season went rolling on against Serangoon's EF City today, as the 36 year-old skipper secured half of Grilled's goals, in an 8-0 plastering of the visitors. EF City had hardly covered themselves in glory thus far, with their only league wins coming against the rudderless duo of LAVINO QUAY and Snohodez, accompanying 0-6 and 0-7 losses to Mayuyu AKB48 and Phantasm Hotspurs respectively. While few expected much better against a buoyant Birds side, that they managed to go one better had to bode well for Grilled's title odds.
Hwang Teck Fu was the only change for Grilled with
Damian Hutter still sidelined by his right ankle concern, and Hwang would not waste only his second-ever league start for the club, in putting the ball into Saliman Wahid's net within eight minutes. Excepting right winger Yip Li Rong, Ng Feng Chee's side lacked somewhat severely in raw ability, and yielded midfield almost immediately.
Chad Thach had far too much room to maneuver as he bent it forward seeking Chan, and although the forward found himself shouldered aside by Ozora Kuromiya, Hwang took over with a classy half-volley, hit without hesitation.
Chan was not about to be kept down either, and after dusting himself off, he would double Grilled's lead on his next touch. While this effort will probably not make his career highlight reel, being a wild swipe at
Egemen Dinçer Ferzan's lob that took a heavy deflection off Leong Kiong Wei, it counted all the same. With the result all but assured,
Federico Parada began showing off on the left, which brought him a yellow card for felling Yip, made less embarassing by
Ibnou Balde bagging on the return.
Parada continued plugging away on his flank, and came up with a deep cross straight to
Lim An Keng in the 26th, but Wahid clawed it aside to
Ibnou Balde, who struck the outside of the post after some difficulties in getting it under control pronto. It might have been different had Chan been there instead, as the legendary Number Eleven would unavoidably hint at two minutes later, with some sublime mastery of both ball and body to elude the last man for 4-0.
That had the home support chanting for a hat-trick - which Chan had not managed since opening day at LAVINO QUAY - and he would oblige, if it took a bit longer. EF City's box-packing saw them through to half-time, which had Tian take Balde and Panigrahi off for
Orest Tokarz and
Gilbert Webb. There was no doubt who the fans wanted to take the free-kick when
Joe Reece snagged one just outside the box 49 minutes in, and Webb duly left it for Chan, who duly dropped it over the wall for his third of the day.
This started a game of "
feed Chan as much as possible", which was admittedly less effective than hoped.
Chad Thach fared little better when he rushed a shot in the 63rd minute with Reece calling for it, but there would be a raucous cheer when Ozora clearly slapped his arm into the ball in defending a header three minutes later. Andorran referee Peeter Ossiander didn't need any replays to award the penalty, and Chan's execution to the lower left corner was all but automatic, as Wahid stood rooted.
It wasn't
Federico Parada's day either as his high-technique toepoke at the end of a dazzling incursion brushed off the crossbar a bit later, and it was the far more direct style of
Orest Tokarz that proved the more effective, against this EF City backline. The beefy Pole had never had any qualms about throwing his weight about, whatever opposing - or his own - fans had to say about the gracelessness of the approach, and former national youth midfielder Yaseen Fitri Helmi had no recourse against Tokarz literally flattening him in the 70th minute en route to shoving it in. He repeated the trick the very next minute to really rub it in, though a hat-trick wasn't forthcoming.
