Enough In The West
Hwang Steps Up
The Birds eased past West Merlions at home in a match that was a lot closer than it should have been, from Grilled's raw possession statistics. The last edition had Grilled Birds prevail 6-4 in Sentosa as Uruguay head coach Homero Balseiro tried to meet the Birds at their own game in a 3-5-2, and he would adapt to the experience with a counterattacking 4-5-1 today. Spanish attacker Aide Gallartzagoitia would be the only one left to find space up top, as trainees such as Prateek Ramachandran and Hafiz Roslan were instructed to clog the middle up as best as they could.
This was possibly not a bad approach to the game, given the Merlions' other objectives, but they had some cause to reconsider it just three minutes into the match. Their formation would unavoidably hand the Birds most of the ball, and the announcers had barely finish riffing on the improbable attendance of 58888 when
Mohd Marzuki Khairul clipped it off opposing skipper Radu-Andrei Vărzaru for a corner kick.
Genki Nagano put the delivery in, and a fruitless aerial battle saw
Wu Ping De wind up with a four-yard sitter.
Few had expected that, least of all Wu himself, who had just been standing still as the ball came in. Vărzaru would urge his teammates to compose themselves as they trudged back for the restart, but it would remain a story of Grilled battering the buckling Merlion backline.
Chia Kwang Tse raised some heartbeats with a raking drive from well outside the box in the 18th minute that passed remarkably close to Mihai's unguarded far post, while
Hwang Teck Fu volleyed
Phillip Nagata's short cross barely high next.
The Merlions had to draw upon all their reserves of patience here, what with the spectators largely on the home team's case, and they launched their first notable counter after half an hour, with Hans Laidla crashing the resulting free-kick off
Radomil Marcol's upright. Grilled were perhaps less cautious than they should have been as they piled forward for a second, and after Wu's miss in the 36th, Roslan would spark another quick break that had Aide Gallartzagoitia meet Philippe Roudier's centering it from the right wing.
One-one it was at half-time, and Balseiro saw no reason to deviate from his original plan - and less yet when they broke right through again in the 55th minute after another clearance from deep, with Laidla bringing Marcol into play with a whipped shot towards the top right corner. West Merlions were for once countered themselves after this, as
Phillip Nagata meandered inside after racing up the flank, before cutting outside again and finding
Wu Ping De. Alas, Wu's touch was off, and the chance went begging.
Nagata was just getting started, however, and he would define the second half with his constant raids against 19 year-old Ee Wei Chu, who frankly did better against the seasoned winger than he had any right to. There was no keeping Nagata under tabs as he rampaged willy-nilly about the 62nd minute, though, and a precise through ball reached
Hwang Teck Fu, who had made his run exactly as Nagata had hoped. Pierpaolo Fraviga tried to step in, but Hwang's early take bulged the top of the net for 2-1.
It was mostly a matter of whether Grilled could add to their lead after that, and Aide Gallartzagoitia would get himself concussed after unsuccessfully challenging
Chad Thach for a header in the 76th minute, which forced Constantin Mihai to block
Mohd Marzuki Khairul's resulting strike from up close. Marzuki would then find the woodwork 82 minutes in following Enrico Sergi's entry, with a mass substitution occuring right before stoppage time.
