Roten Whiplash
Saliman Powers Up
Their second game in the East Europe - Asia Championship was going very badly indeed, with two goals conceded by the 23rd minute, but Grilled managed a complete turnaround after that point.
Mohammad Ramli Saliman, whom many had seen as too unassertive despite his youth international experience, went some way towards convincing his detractors with a masterful showing, after the initial hiccups.
Currently like Grilled undergoing some bad fortune in league football, Roten were banking on Argentine Number Nine Ovidio Losso to cause trouble up front, helped by usual supplier Zuhdija Milas. The Birds for their part decided to rest
Tian Yonghang, instead starting
Mohammad Ramli Saliman in his place, a move which would take some time to bear fruit.
As drive went, it was tough to look past Roten captain Walter Aschaffenburg early on, as the 32 year-old absolutely went at it;
Hariharan Prabhu took it upon himself to mark Aschaffenburg, but this was never one of his main strengths. It all went to pieces after
Moey Xin Seng fluffed an underdeveloped attack in the 14th minute, as Rotan surged on the counter, with Aschaffenburg appropriately finishing the sequence that he began.
A yellow card for a biting sliding tackle on
Ang Leong Kum would dampen Aschaffenburg somewhat, though it might just as well simply have been that his workrate was unsustainable. Still, Rotan were the much more lively side, and although Zuhdija Milas put it narrowly over on their next counterattack, Peter Michael Malz would dart in front of
Gene Filippone to flick in a second, not long afterwards.
It would have been curtains had Grilled continued in such a manner, but that goal threw a switch somewhere.
Rinor Isufi would lead with a dribble into dangerous territory on the restart, and
Mohammad Ramli Saliman would then begin exerting the influence he was capable of. Floating across the pitch intelligently, he would pick at gaps in Roten's defence, and
Yuta Nakakita would gamble and win with an off-balance lob in the 28th.
This breakthrough further boosted the Birds, and they would claw control back from Rotan for good. Focusing on making their opponents chase the ball now, Grilled played it around their penalty area seeking opportunity, and
Mohammad Ramli Saliman caught Fritz Ules out with a deadly accurate drilled shot to equalise.
Neeraj Muthyala would be carded in the immediate aftermath, as he extricated himself from Ignaz Steinacher too roughly for the referee's fancy, but fortunately the goal stood.
The second half rolled around, and Saliman turned out to have just been getting started. The teams had barely gotten warmed back up, when he put Grilled ahead for the first time - starting out on the edge of the box, Saliman ducked in behind with a classy reverse turn, and with his non-pivoting foot dug it barely past a flailing Ules.
It was Grilled's turn to show off their energy, and despite
Moey Xin Seng getting booked in the build-up, they would win a corner kick in the 57th minute.
Rinor Isufi had some trouble keeping the ball from rolling away in the draft, but then delivered a fine flat effort, that
Neeraj Muthyala climbed over two defenders to crash in.
Gene Filippone then missed his chance to follow up on his heroics against Mąkolno, nicking a direct free-kick inches high. That would happen to be the Birds' last notable attempt of the match, but Rotan would not be able to capitalize either; Ovidio Losso's attempt in the 82nd minute, cleared off the line by Filippone, would be their only remaining shot on target.
