Monticello Cased
Raúl At Last
Panama III.6 visitors AC Monticello have been progressing under Argentine head coach Helios Joaquín Otranto towards a return to the LPF, and they would draw just over 4000 to The Cooking Pot this fine afternoon. 20 year-old national prospect Fabricio Cardozo would be the pick of the lot in central midfield, with academy buddy César Espósito to his left. Monticello would overload their right wing seemingly towards pushing
Markus Pallas, with
Mohsen El Khateeb the other Birds defender, and
Kendell El Khateeb starting at left attack - having just turned nineteen.
This was very evidently an experiment for both teams, what with
Aw Keng Chuan finding himself as right forward, which would lead to plenty of confusion, if also some fresh plays. The guests would be first off the mark in the tenth minute, as left winger Manuel Hidalgo benefited from Arturo Marval's keen eye for a pass. Hidalgo would be carded twelve minutes later for a brutal kick at
Chia Kwang Tse's thigh that was worthy of an MMA event, and the referee had to believe that it was unintentional, for only a yellow to be given.
Chia would soldier on grimly after a quick ice compress, but there would be no Grilled chances of note for the rest of the half, after
Damian Hutter's unlikely busting through the Monticello lines about the 16th minute. The Austrian looked as bemused as anybody else that nobody had stopped his rather direct run, and he wouldn't get to test Ennio Court, before Hugo Ballestero had recovered to win the ball back from the side.
The second half had
Dahan Bok back in goal as per custom, and Hutter would soon make up for his previous indecision, with
Paulino Trindade supplying a nicely-weighted cross after cutting in from the left touchline. There was still all to work for with obvious target
Chia Kwang Tse pinned in by two defenders, but the only left Hutter with another free run to attack the ball with a header. He got his full bodyweight behind it, and Court had no chance.
Mohsen El Khateeb would then be put out by José Vicente Ceballos' ramming shoulder charge three minutes later, which had the Grilled fans decrying French official Jebril Besseghier's leniency, in settling for another caution. That had
Hwang Teck Fu as an upgrade at the back, not that he had much time to do anything before Spanish striker Caitan Cayuela got his team back in front. Hwang could hardly be blamed for not sticking closer given the nearly non-existent angle, but Cayuela somehow planted it into the far top corner nevertheless.
Grilled Birds were a lot quicker to equalize this time, and it was again
Damian Hutter to even things up, with Monticello's tendency not to press opposition midfielders once more working against them. The visitors still appeared to have secured a draw, all considered, with
Chan Ze Han's entry for
Markus Pallas in the 89th minute seemingly a formality. The canny forward would wheedle a free-kick from the referee thanks to carefully-considered positioning, however, and this was all
Raúl Himadas needed, to send Monticello packing with a beauty of a right-footer over the wall!
