Wresting Control
Gúst Blows Through
This early top-of-the-table clash saw Grilled Birds dismiss a stubborn Controlar at The Cooking Pot, where intermittent rainstorms had not stopped close to sixty thousand from attending. The Woodlands visitors, who like Grilled had won their first three league fixtures, boasted of impressive defensive mettle to survive the Birds' initial barrage unscathed. The returning
Gústav Thoroddsen would waste no time in getting back up to speed, however, and he would grab a second-half brace to boost his already-burgeoning reputation amongst the Birds fans.
Now, with
Joe Reece and
Orest Tokarz starting alongside Thoroddsen, the Birds could hardly be accused of being short on forward options - but this was the bare minimum the task called for, given that Controlar had not even conceded in their previous three matches. tpyers, Mayuyu AKB48 and Shadow Chaser(R) SC had all been shut out under the watchful eye of Au Weili, with the Chasers' Thom Godling being the last one to beat Pedro Vasco Conceição Correia, back last season.
Tian Yonghang was not one to shirk a challenge, granted, and he would challenge Piotr Kolberg head-on in a narrow formation, with
Brian Reddy and
Hwang Teck Fu compressing play.
As for Controlar, Hans Hendrik Biskopstø and David Ramos would try to peg Grilled's defensive line back with their movement, but this would not last for long as the Birds steered the game towards their strengths. It would be Hwang to drive much of the early action with Reddy often double-marked, and his energetic running up the left would create two decent half-chances, with
Chad Thach slamming one over the bar in the tenth minute, before cutting it back for
Ha Qicai to deliver a short cross, that Tong Yi Chuan fouled Thoroddsen just outside the penalty area on.
Young German referee Yannik Dall`Armi considered for some time before reaching for his yellow card, to the relief of the Controlar supporters, but the danger had not passed yet.
Joe Reece stood menacingly over the ball, but defied expectations by pushing it to the outside for Reddy to eventually square from the touchline. This would be
Gústav Thoroddsen's first real chance of the day, but with two defenders converging onto him as the angle closed, it inevitably went begging.
Grilled were getting pressed backwards now as Controlar settled, and
Ha Qicai's hopeful drive from some twenty-five yards in the 23rd minute was a sign of how they were now struggling to get close. Controlar would seek to keep more of the ball as they slowed the game to suit their ends, which resulted in two bookings in quick succession for the Birds, with Thoroddsen carded for toppling Au Weili after 31 minutes, and then
Chia Kwang Tse too for vigorously protesting the decision.
Aw Keng Chuan would get Chia away before the penalty was increased, and Controlar could claim to have come out of the first half the happier side, even if they had yet to mount a serious attempt on
Dimitris Germanakos' goal. It was quite obvious that they were saving themselves for Grilled's focus breaking, which did not seem at all unlikely, from how it was going. The Birds reconstituted themselves for the second half, but the more cautious approach saw them dally until the 58th, when Reece again tried a complicated free-kick setup, once more to no avail.
Controlar were looking rather satisfied with a point at this stage, and from how they were guarding their box, they looked good value for it too. Very little happened until the 69th minute, when
Joe Reece's hold-up play at the corner flag resulted in a corner, as he hit it behind off Pau Calleja.
Aw Keng Chuan went up to take it,
Orest Tokarz managed a blind flick-on, and who else but
Gústav Thoroddsen would get on the end of that, to hammer it in off the far post?
The stands erupted in cheering as the home fans delighted in this breakthrough goal a long time in coming, and Controlar finally seemed slightly lost, as they considered how to work themselves back into the game. Grilled were not about to help, and piled it on with their opponents suddenly thrown into indecision. Tokarz volleyed hard four minutes later, but Correia - who had finally lost his clean sheet streak - proved alert in pushing it the other way. Thoroddsen was there, however, and Tong Yi Chuan just couldn't keep up before the Icelandic hero made it 2-0.
This was enough for Tian, who took Aw off for
Damian Hutter to save his all-purpose defender some wear. Grilled kept up the positivity with Ha given full freedom to try as he would now, and the Hong Kong star would not be reserved, in unleashing again from several metres outside the box. That 78th minute strike was quite excellent, actually, and Correia would have to be bailed out by the woodwork for that, having gotten nowhere near it.
Controlar came closest once they threw everything into a final rush, and this after Grilled had spent their remaining subs on bringing
Lim An Keng and
Evandro La Face into the fray. The injury time all-in raid had Pau Calleja come almost face-to-face with
Dimitris Germanakos, who had spent much of the match standing about, but the Greek goalie would more than earn his keep with a brave dive at the Spaniard's feet to protect his own clean sheet.