Inmigrante Turned Aside
Face Askance
Uruguayan IV.48 hosts Inmigrante would be taken out 3-5 in Montevideo if only after a prolonged struggle, that had a nearing-forty
Chan Ze Han hint that he might yet have a future at Grilled, if as a supersub. Inmigrante's blocky 4-3-3 put men where it mattered as they countered the Birds' central focus to great effort after a shaky start, with
Gilbert Webb's days as a serious contender in defence sadly probably over, on today's evidence.
Webb would start for the first time in a long, long while, beside a scarcely younger
Radovan Jaška, but even then the difference in pace between the two would be hard to miss after awhile. Recognizing this, their teammates would try to keep the action as far from them as possible, which had
Gandhik Chitre force French goalie Arthur Raymond into a frantic block after six minutes. Grilled's midfield continued to create, and
Chad Thach would be free and clear in the 16th, with Henri Logren having drifted too far towards the opposite flank to help out. He didn't miss, and it was 1-0 Grilled.
It would get rougher, with
Joe Reece charging former Uruguay youth striker Iván Vázquez about as hard as he could within the bounds of the rules, and Vázquez would come off the worse for wear, clutching his shoulder. Referee Massimiliano Marco Marella appeared to have let that go, but the crowd's sustained hostility appeared to persuade him otherwise, and Reece would be retroactively booked. That didn't keep Grilled from trucking on, and
Evandro La Face would volley a second home in the 40th minute, with
Chad Thach then clipping a clever lob barely high.
There would be plenty of drama remaining in the final few minutes of the half, as Chitre had his right calf raked from behind by Désiré Topin - which Marella would ignore, to his teammates' clear fury. That was it for Chitre as
Tian Yonghang gave the fans what they wanted in
Chan Ze Han, but Inmigrante would finish the stronger as they crafted a spectacular assist for Jodokus Burgthaler, who could hardly fail to score against an outflanked
Manuel Vadalà.
Lim An Keng and
Federico Parada would replace Thach and Ferzan at half-time, but it was a revitalized Inmigrante who kept their momentum going through the middle. Polish midfielder Paweł Gaczorek had been trying his luck from wide left earlier on to little avail, and found directly challenging Grilled's defenders rather more profitable.
Radovan Jaška guessed the wrong way, and Gaczorek breezed past him on the inside for the finish.
Paulino Trindade was not about to stand for that as he worked Burgthaler for all he was worth down the right flank, and
Evandro La Face would be the beneficiary in the 62nd minute, when Trindade faked the cross, before pulling it short to the canny forward. Alas, Burgthaler replied within two minutes in like fashion, as Logren embarked on a rare and risky overlap down the right. Fortunately for him, none of Grilled's players picked him up, and he would find himself with an open drive from within ten yards.
Who else would it be but
Chan Ze Han, then, to end the argument? The 39 year-old might not have been much involved over this past season, but about a single touch, there remained few better. Faroese sweeper Tomasz Nieśmiałek gave Chan due respect by sticking to him when the long ball came in, but that was still not enough, as Chan spun and curled it beyond Raymond in one smooth motion. La Face then completed his treble five minutes on, and that was that.
