Saga Stifled
Yuki Yes
Grilled prevailed against Taiwan Saga 4-0 playing considerably above their usual level, which might have had something to do with the timely return of
Yuki Irie to the fray. Concurrently, the Taiwanese Division Two challengers fell off pretty hard after a bright beginning, and would succumb tamely to the Birds' incessant nibbling.
They definitely started the stronger, as Venezuelan head coach Flavio Portillo's eminently-systematic setup exhibited its full glory - the defence never hesitated to send it high for their famously-tall midfield to win, after which they had two main options: spread it wide for the wingers to run up as they swarmed the penalty area for crosses, or to play it to the feet of their technically-proficient forwards, particularly the silky-smooth Kareem Omar Al-Hajry.
It was a wonder than Grilled did not concede under this onslaught, much of which owed to
Wong Tian Han's incredible presence. Even he had nothing to do with Zygmunt Opalski's fifth-minute disappointment, though, as it was only the crossbar that denied the Polish speed merchant his rightful due that time. Wong was helped by
Ling Fuquan rediscovering his tackling chops, with the 33 year-old preventing a number of shots in the making, receiving a yellow for tangling with Marco Meschieri.
Frankly, Ling probably got off lightly, given that he had to resort to many of the more unsavoury tricks in his playbook to maintain the tie. Happily for him, the rest of the side had recovered from their initial shellshock, and were beginning to disrupt Taiwan Saga's well-oiled if relatively predictable gameplan.
A mix of being more discerning with the ball, and proactively pressing against Taiwan Saga's runners, allowed Grilled space to breathe, and who would it be but
Yuki Irie who would fire them in front? Granted, it was partly down to Salomón Soler, who hashed a straightforward clearing header - if distracted by
Tian Yonghang - but Yuki's unhesitating half-volley was up there with the best any striker had to offer.
Taiwan Saga continued threatening, and Al-Hajry got a yellow card off
Lee Lee Hao, but the flow was steadily turning around. It was Grilled's turn to make the other team sweat, but
Ang Leong Kum and
Ling Fuquan spurned decent openings, leaving Saga very much in it come half-time.
Al-Hajry continued being Taiwan Saga's guiding light, and he came tantalizingly close to an equaliser more than once, as Frenchman Julien Richard kept finding him with beefy knockdowns. Again, however,
Wong Tian Han was at his imperious best, and it would be
Clément Meyer who would extend Grilled's lead instead. Fifty-eight minutes in, Lee put almost everybody off with an instinctive backheel into the air, and Meyer fell upon it, for a quite eccentric finish.
Saga knew it was slipping away now, but it simply wasn't coming together for them either; Meschieri dropped back to try and wrest control, to no discernable effect. Grilled kept up their combative tackling, which saw
Low Aik Jia as their third entry in the referee's notepad. This might ironically have led to a third after the free-kick was blocked right back to Low, but
Rinor Isufi didn't get the contact he wanted on the cross.
Then, a lifeline. With about fourteen minutes to go, overworked referee Xu Beidai blew for contact between
Ling Fuquan and Al-Hajry just outside Grilled's penalty area. Ling, who felt not totally without cause that the Omani had made a meal of it, protested furiously, and carried on airing his grievances even after Meschieri had stuck the free-kick wide. Xu finally got tired of this, and sent Ling off with a second yellow.
If this was what Taiwan Saga had been hoping for, it didn't work. Needing to make up the two-goal deficit pronto, they understandably went for route one football with a high midfield, but this only left the back door open. With 83 minutes gone,
Low Aik Jia hit a wicked curler from the left that Esteban Gombau barely saved by a hair, which however only delayed the inevitable for a few seconds as
Wong Ping Shun cleaned up.
Their dreams well and truly punctured, Saga would ship one more to
Clément Meyer the very next minute, and the referee saw no harm in blowing for time immediately after
Gennady Dvorak strolled in for
Tian Yonghang in the last minute of the regulation ninety.
