Two-Three Misery
Ramanayake Decider
Grilled Birds lost their third game of the new season by the same scoreline that they had gotten in their previous two defeats, as West Merlions prevailed 3-2 in Pasir Ris at the Ballota Stadium.
Mohd Marzuki Khairul's stellar brace from left wing was not enough to see the Birds through, as the Merlions defended hard - and attacked smart.
Dan Alstani had been optimistic in his pre-game pep talk, but it remained that this Merlions side were on a six-match winning run, and had looked very good value for it. Their only injury concern was Estonian free-kick specialist Hans Laidla, who eventually appeared at leftback, as Romanian central defender Radu-Andrei Vărzaru captained them in a 4-5-1. Countryman Nicolae-Cristian Cută would be the lone forward, and stuck close to
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko in an effort to create one-on-one isolation plays.
West Merlions had of course prevailed 4-3 at home in the clubs' latest meeting last month, which had Merlions slightly more adventurous in a 3-5-2. The overall feel in their approach remained similar for that, as the Birds were slow to get going with the rarely-seen pairing of
Ananda Hettiarachchi and
Paulino Trindade up top.
Chad Thach strove to set a good example as leader of the line, but found the Merlions quite adept as doubling up on him at vital moments.
The opener then came from a somewhat unexpected source, as Myanmar midfielder-turned-defender
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko found himself wandering upfield largely uncontested, with the opposition evidently intending to defend in their own half. This turned out to be not so great an idea as Hein made it almost to the opposition penalty area, whereupon he suddenly broke towards the right side. This development threw the backline into disarray, and even as
Hisham Zubari sprinted down the touchline with Laidla in close attendance, Hein simply reversed his pass, barely looking, to
Mohd Marzuki Khairul zooming in from the other flank. 1-0!
Alstani was chuffed as the new teammates rejoiced in their telepathic understanding, but Grilled would have business to take care of soon enough. A considered foul by
Lim An Keng left them with a free-kick about twenty yards out just two minutes later, but the dragged-out routine eventually ended with a missed connection floated out to Cută. Marzuki would then be cut down in the middle of a shot by Gavin Stockwell, who was booked for it. Alas, Grilled's own dead ball attempt by
Genki Nagano would not merit discussion either.
The Merlions had not exactly been raising much concern from the Grilled team, but as it turned out, they would not need that many chances. Italian fullback Pierpaolo Fraviga did much of the hard work as he passed first Marzuki and then Genki on the right, before a stylish backheel to Martin Ramanayake, in the 26th minute. On hindsight, a return ball was the most obvious move by far, but
Genki Nagano had apparently not expected Ramanayake to be able to thread the needle - an assumption he soon bitterly regretted, as the Sri Lankan did... and Fraviga levelled.
West Merlions then went ahead two minutes later, as they switched play to Frenchman Philippe Roudier on the left, on their next possession. A rapid exchange between Roudier, Stockwell and Nicolae-Cristian Cută would see the striker come away with the ball after a brief tussle against
Hisham Zubari, which forced
Radomil Marcol to charge out. The Grilled goalkeeper had put too much in his dash, however, and it wasn't hard for Cută to sidestep him bullfighter-style, and slip it into the net for 2-1 to Merlions.
The Grilled section let out an audible groan at that, but the players would at least muster up as strong a response as could be expected under the circumstances.
Mohd Marzuki Khairul was undoubtedly the Birds' focal point today, and he would seek to raise spirits with a brave slashing effort 31 minutes in, that blazed past the far post. Marzuki kept it up, and the equalizer duly arrived five minutes after that, as he again slipped into Stefaan Blankenstein's blind spot, to finish off
Hisham Zubari's outstanding thirty-yard through pass.
The teams entered the tunnel for the break with Grilled Birds probably feeling the harder done by, and indeed they would have expected a better return, after clearly winning the midfield battle. To West Merlions, however, this was perhaps just part of their gameplan. The second half started with a valient attempt from the previously-quiet
Ananda Hettiarachchi to claim the lead, but his finish - after
Genki Nagano had switched to right wing to great effect - would be smothered by the vigilant Constantin Mihai.
Dan Alstani threw his hands up at that, and there would be no comparable chance for a long while. After considering his options, the Grilled boss made his first tactical substitution of the day, putting
Aw Keng Chuan on for
Chia Kwang Tse. This had the expected result of shoring up the Birds' defensive liabilities at the cost of some offensive fluency, and from how the match was going, it was not easy to figure out whether this tradeoff was worth the while.
This brought a response from Uruguay head coach Homero Balseiro a bit later, as he ordered Radu-Andrei Vărzaru to venture forward more, in essense reverting partway to three at the back.
Genki Nagano's nightmare then began, from when he lined up a free-kick right in front of the Merlions goal, due to
Chad Thach having his jersey tugged. Genki was clearly aiming for the right top corner, but Chhay Rithy rose from the wall to head it clear... and seconds later, Martin Ramanayake would put it past
Radomil Marcol after Ajay Lieuw Fat had made the most of a two-on-two fast break up the right.
That was a hammer blow to the Grilled side, who had barely allowed the Merlions into their final third before that, and they would have about fifteen minutes to find an answer.
Paulino Trindade appeared to have stumbled upon one as he drew contact against the slow-turning Stefaan Blankenstein in the 81st minute... only for
Genki Nagano to pummel the penalty kick into the turf, leaving Constantin Mihai to watch as the ball skipped well wide almost comically.
