Merlions Tamed
Chad Trigger
Sentosa club West Merlions had been the only club to do the league double over Grilled Birds last season, but the Birds ensured that there would be no reprising this feat, as they stifled their visitors to a commanding 5-2 victory today. Nearly eighty thousand had turned up at The Cooking Pot with Grilled on a roll, and they would be edified by Grilled's unyielding commitment to attacking.
Swedish goalkeeper Sverre Abelin would return between the posts, if only for a short period, with the Merlions making few adjustments to the lineup that had served them so well in this fixture. Cambodian midfielder Chhay Rithy being chosen over Gavin Stockwell was about all that Uruguay head coach Homero Balseiro changed, as
Tian Yonghang went with
Mohd Marzuki Khairul in midfield despite observers' concerns over his training performance.
Aw Keng Chuan started alongside Marzuki over
Genki Nagano, who had his own form issues.
It was otherwise the usual story for the Birds, who evidently felt that there had been nothing wrong with their tactics against the Merlions the last two times round, despite being defeated. And to be honest, they would pick their way deep into the Merlions half easily enough, with
Chia Kwang Tse flashing a dangerous-seeming volley by Abelin's right post, just four minutes in. The Swedish goalkeeper would not be long for this game, and after getting clattered by
Brian Reddy in a race to keep the ball from going behind off his defender in the ninth minute, veteran Number One Chase Chiu would have to take over.
The Merlions made to most of the stoppage to compose themselves, with Romanian captain Radu-Andrei Vărzaru apparently trying to convince Spanish referee Javier Tobarra to send Reddy off, if unsuccessfully. Merlions did resume play more prepared than they were, and after fending a handful of Birds advances off, they took the lead in the 23rd minute through a Stefaan Blankenstein strike off Ajay Lieuw Fat's swirling cross. It would however be one-all some five minutes later, as
Chad Thach likewise nodded home a good delivery by Darko Androvic.
It was then West Merlions' turn to remove a key player from the contest, with Sri Lankan midfielder Martin Ramanayake crocking
Chad Thach's right ankle with a late trip from the side, 34 minutes in.
Hwang Teck Fu entered as
Lim An Keng and company petitioned Tobarra, who proved remarkably consistent in deploying only his yellow card. No matter for Grilled, who were slowly taking over the game, as they went ahead thanks to a magnificent
Chia Kwang Tse hit from the right corner of the penalty area.
Gandhik Chitre might have gotten a third before half-time, but Chase Chiu came to the rescue then with a fine reaction save.
The visitors weren't out of contention by any means, and whenever they held the ball for a spell, Grilled's positioning often became somewhat suspect.
Aw Keng Chuan would be responsible for bailing the Birds out on several occasions, and they were in huge trouble when Ramanayake dribbled him in the 54th minute. With Marzuki led wide by Chhay Rithy, Juuso Varila steamed in with unstoppable force for Ramanayake's final ball, only to nearly snap the crossbar with a cannonball that had
Radomil Marcol rooted.
This would be the peak of the Merlions' attainment for the second half, so it happened, as Grilled went 3-1 up three minutes later, from a simple
Raúl Himadas penalty that followed unintentional arm-to-ball by Ghani Naim in the box. Balseiro would order Ajay Lieuw Fat to be more involved on the offensive as Merlions chased the game in earnest, but this wouldn't quite work out as
Aw Keng Chuan busted a fourth goal past Chiu in the 67th minute, to pad a rewarding day out for the midfielder.
The Birds weren't about to go easy despite racking up a three-goal lead, and their continued concentration paid off five minutes later, with
Lim An Keng finally collecting his first league goal of the new campaign, with his confident placement off
Gandhik Chitre's cool assist. A double sub of
Genki Nagano and
Paulino Trindade on for Aw and Andrović happened with five minutes of regular time to go, and it was perhaps not a total coincidence that Spanish forward Aide Gallartzagoitia pulled another goal back deep in injury time, helped by some excellent peripheral vision from Chhay Rithy.
