A Semi Return
Wu Picks Moment
Grilled Birds will contest the Singapore Cup semifinals after an eighteen-year wait, after they saw off S-League opponents FC Marttaliitto 4-1, to earn their place. Marttaliitto's ten-game unbeaten streak - coincidentally stretching back to last season's 2-3 league defeat at the Birds - had just been smashed by Sarcastic Fringeheads last weekend, but head coach Yosi Lochinov's plan to save his players' legs for the cup would evidently not come off, as their switch back to confront Grilled in a 2-5-3 left them second best in a head-to-head duel.
All eyes were on the player selections for this quarterfinals, with
Dan Alstani dropping Myanmar midfielder
Hein Thiha Pyae Ko once more, to put both
Mohd Marzuki Khairul and
Chad Thach in midfield along with
Ananda Hettiarachchi. The forward line of
Hwang Teck Fu,
Chia Kwang Tse and
Lim An Keng then picked itself. For FC Marttaliitto, they reconfigured the lineup that had gotten them past Sentoza Springboks, with Koh Chi Leng dropping into defence, allowing Finnish skipper Tommi Törnström back in midfield following his recovery from injury. Argentine fullback Fernando Daniel Marco was the one to make way, as FC Marttaliitto set up with dual centrebacks.
Lochinov had reason to attack into Grilled, having also lost at The Cooking Pot attempting to counter, but they were caught unprepared for the intensity of the Birds' kick-off. There would be no dallying around or warming-up from Grilled after Hwang knocked the ball back at French referee Clément Leprieur's cue, as they enveloped the Marttaliitto box in a swarming move by the next minute.
Chia Kwang Tse challenged the defence fearlessly with ball at feet, and although Martin Üres nicked it away,
Mohd Marzuki Khairul was there with the instinctive chip over the approaching Gildardo Bambague.
FC Marttaliitto had definitely not expected to be behind after just two minutes, and it was all Lochinov and Törnström could do to restrain the players from losing their composure. Koh Chi Leng's instructions to nullify Hwang were soon obvious, but also made redundant by the striker's bull-headed strength. After a sixth-minute free-kick from
Genki Nagano blazed marginally wide, Hwang shoved his way through to test Bambague with Koh in his face. The lesson had not been taken, unfortunately for Marttaliitto, and the next attack would have Hwang power Grilled's second goal home from seven yards, with the goalkeeper unable to get a grip on the cannonball.
Marttaliitto had to recover yet again, and hearteningly for their fans, their midfield was experienced enough not to crumble after those repeated setbacks. Üres took his time in positioning his free-kick after
Genki Nagano's intentional foul on Gunin Uniyal, finally raking it low underneath the wall to come off the far post.
Radomil Marcol certainly looked relieved there! It was soon back to the Birds, and a fine release from the tightly-marked
Hwang Teck Fu after twenty minutes allowed
Wu Ping De to try a lob. It appeared too close to Bambague, but the goalie was a step slow in backpedalling, and replays confirmed that the ball had crossed the line before he managed to palm it back out - three-nil it was, then!
The FC Marttaliitto supporters could not help but be a lot quieter at that, as they confronted the enormity of the task before them. Finnish international midfielder Teemu Heikkuri was a titan, but even he could not drag an otherwise hesitant unit past a now-exuberant Grilled team. The Birds for their part trusted in their ability to keep the ball to deny their foes, with
Ananda Hettiarachchi for one displaying a maturity beyond his years in controlling the tempo.
The first half thus ended without further incident, and Lochinov had veterans Suthat Mok-jok and Kęstutis Kvesteris limber up on the touchline through the interval, before electing to enter the next half with an unchanged side. FC Marttaliitto were the hungrier team now, and they would start making frequent incusions into the Grilled half, largely through Sri Lankan winger Ahamed Kamil. Kamil earned a corner off
Phillip Nagata in the 57th minute, which Üres dropped to Heikkuri... who mishit it from four yards. At this, the stadium commentator could not help but remark that it was simply not their day.
Grilled Birds were not very convincing on the defensive, and FC Marttaliitto continued pushing for a first goal that might yet turn their fortunes around.
Genki Nagano found himself overwhelmed due to a lack of support at times, and laid into his teammates after being forced into holding Portuguese star Manuel Amado Martinho down in the 63rd minute, which brought him a booking. Another foul had Martin Üres strike a free-kick straight through the wall three minutes later, but
Radomil Marcol somehow got a big hand to that, despite moving the other way!
The Grilled faithful were convinced - with good reason - that they were going through by now, and kept up an unbroken succession of chants despite FC Marttaliitto's persistent threat. There would be ironic cheers as Törnström placed a rising shot about a yard over in the 81st minute, before a surge of anticipation as
Genki Nagano lined up a dead ball several minutes later, with Bambague ordering a five-man defensive wall. Genki eventually tried to play it short only for the ball to be intercepted by Maidar Gombo, who was in turn hacked down almost immediately by
Hwang Teck Fu. Hwang was fortunate to stay on there, as the referee toyed with a red card.
FC Marttaliitto had not given up, and they got their breakthrough with two minutes remaining in the game. Martin Üres brought the ball deep down the left side as the Birds fell back, deftly releasing Juan Miguel Espinoza as the Argentine forward sidestepped
Hisham Zubari. Espinoza bore down on Marcol before beating him with a stiff left-footed drive... that came hard off the near post. Portuguese teammate Manuel Amado Martinho was there to polish the rebound off, however, and one would be hard pressed to claim that Marttaliitto didn't deserve at least that.
Leprieur had additional business to attend to after blowing for the goal, as he jogged up to
Chia Kwang Tse to book him for tripping Gunin Uniyal in the build-up, making it three yellows for Grilled Birds today. They didn't seem too concerned, however, and a cool-headed
Chad Thach saw through Teemu Heikkuri's effort to bypass him and force another attack, soon after the restart. Thach went on to hit a magnificent thirty-yarder upfield into space for
Wu Ping De, and the winger wouldn't disappoint as he recorded his first brace for the Birds.
