Barca Pull Away
Jourdan Dunk
FC Barca Singapore were reunited with Grilled Birds after an absence of sixteen seasons, possibly still smarting from the 0-7 that they had suffered at Camp Nou Singapore in the S-League fixture then. The Ang Mo Kio club had historically maintained a good record against the Birds, however, and the years since then would see them establish themselves firmly amongst Singapore's greats, with six major national titles.
Their relegation after four straight glorious seasons - in which they had won either the S-League or Singapore Cup for each - had not been anticipated by many pundits, but Slovenian head coach Tobi Urbancl had surely earned himself some patience from the fans. He would embark in a buying spree in the fourth week of this campaign, brining in wide men Ajdin Vanović and Ramon Grasser, and midfielder Claus-Dieter Eichstaedt, for a total of over S$21 million. Georgian striker Zhanri Osikmishvili would then leave for Sweden after a lukewarm year, but they managed to make a small profit on the then-30 year-old in any case.
With their sole loss in the league having come at Joker 9, and very narrowly at that, the general thinking was that they had to have the advantage against the Birds at home. This was soon borne out as they opted to match Grilled with a 3-5-2, which largely reduced the game to individual duels. This was something they had a manifest advantage in their attack, with Belgian striker Chris Jourdan making it a point to move
Raúl Himadas around with his muscle - and lower centre of gravity. Himadas could do nothing once Jourdan burst past him in the 13th minute after backing hard into him, and the curler to the far post was inch-perfect.
The hosts would not have it all their own way, and former Barbados national midfielder Sheldon Lightbourne would rear up in agony four minutes later, midway through trying to chase
Gandhik Chitre down. Referee Steen Ravnholt would stop the match, and a brief inspection from the medic had Luis Esteban Espeleta kit up to play. This unplanned interruption broke Barca's flow to an extent, and the always-dangerous Grilled offense then equalized in the 22nd minute, with
Hwang Teck Fu putting
Lim An Keng through after a short bulldozing run.
This was what the travelling support liked to see, and the previously-cautious game would develop into the footballing equivalent of a brawl for awhile. An overexcited
Chad Thach received the first yellow of the match for following through on his missed reception and catching Erfan Noura, which nearly sparked a pushing contest. Adin Åkesson flashed a header off the bar in the 29th, and
Gandhik Chitre nearly got Grilled ahead next, with his slash at goal from nowhere. Sadly, Ivan Ivić was alert to the possibility, and a mass counter down the left allowed Jourdan to run it past the outnumbered
Radomil Marcol.
Grilled were the more-proactive side coming out for the second half, as they had to be, but FC Barca Singapore's backline was a big reason behind their recent success. It might have regressed slightly from their absolute peak a few years back, but the likes of Aadil M'Madi remained dominant defenders on their day. He was a huge reason why
Chia Kwang Tse had barely a look all this time, and when
Brian Reddy's cross finally reached Chia in the 57th minute, M'Madi was again there to ensure that the forward could not get any power behind the header.
Reddy was the next one to be cautioned after a tussle with Åkesson on the touchline, as Grilled continued to chase a second equalizer. The game might have ended very differently had
Lim An Keng taken one less touch on
Aw Keng Chuan's slip-through, but it was what it was with that giving opposition captain Vũ Ðông Nguyên the extra seconds he needed, to get in the way. FC Barca Singapore were off again after that, and the depleted Birds centre could not prevent Ajdin Vanović from making it 3-1.
This two-goal lead was what Urbancl was waiting for, and the Barca head coach would immediately prepare a tactical substitution, taking the unwilling Chris Jourdan off for Ramji Shenoy, who then relayed instructions to reorganize into a 5-4-1. This was sufficient for the hosts to hold out for the remaining half an hour, with Grilled unable to create that needed spark up top.
