Blustering By Lucrezia
Moey Mows Down
Still badly smarting from a fifth straight competitive loss, it was all the Birds could do to ensure that they would not suffer the same fate again so soon. Hungary's Lucrezia Borgia Society were who they were facing off against this day, and with
Moey Xin Seng picking up the ropes up top, they would work their way to a comfortable-enough 4-1 victory.
It was hardly bound to turn out that way, as Lucrezia posed some interesting problems in the early exchanges. While not exactly a household name, Argentine striker Cristian Dotto was imposing against a wobbly Grilled back two, and Lucrezia demonstrated considerable facility with their well-practised 4-4-2.
They were perhaps most strikingly very quick all around, which David Kříž hinted at in the 18th minute, when he caught
Kalki Parvathaneni despite the Grilled youngster having the advantage of a couple steps' headstart. Niklaus Schrepfer would likewise keep pace with
Rinor Isufi somewhat later, though Moey had by then beaten Anders Pettersson with a clinical finish.
The Birds were too predictable in their attempts, though, and there were several moves in which shifting play wide at a pivotal moment, might have brought significant rewards. Instead,
Kalki Parvathaneni was intent on bashing his way through, and his usually-admirable directness would not turn out well this time, with pressure from Lucrezia's defenders allowing Pettersson easy saves.
And then, Lucrezia hit back. Having been hemmed back for almost the entirety of the game, they exhibited astounding speed in their breakout; Romanian winger Marco Grigorie saw the opening after Kalki's misstep in the 40th minute, and mere seconds later, the ball was in the back of the Grilled net thanks to Danilo Fraternale's nimble feet.
Things then hapened very quickly after that, and not to Lucrezia's benefit. They had barely basked in the afterglow of the equaliser, when Moey slyly won a free-kick some twenty-five yards out.
Mohammad Ramli Saliman stood over it, but left it for
Gene Filippone running in from the other direction, and although Pettersson had guessed right, he was not able to get across to Filippone's hammered grounder in time.
One well-struck shot would follow another in quick succession, as
Rinor Isufi came through right after the restart, chasing
Neeraj Muthyala's apparently-overhit pass to great effect. Isufi would however flirt with a sending off in time added-on, as he shoved Niklaus Schrepfer in the chest feeling that the defender had gone over too easily, but fortunately escaped with a yellow.
Lucrezia stayed with their flat formation after the break, and the Birds continued what they had been doing. Four minutes into the second half,
Mohammad Ramli Saliman found the ball at his feet just five metres out, after Pettersson had spilled a speculative Kalki effort, but the Swedish goalie more than made up for his own mistake with a superb reaction stop with his head.
A double substitution on the hour saw
Tian Yonghang and
Yuki Irie on, and the former would be able to unleash the full force of his creativity, given Grilled's overwhelming possession. 75 minutes in, Tian would craft a deceptively straightforward give-and-go that freed Moey off Schrepfer's shoulder, and despite being clattered by Bořivoj Vodička, Moey kept his balance and flipped his second goal in.
Grilled would fail to extend their lead further, with Isufi first losing his composure for once after Schrepfer had overcommitted himself. Moey then blew his chance for a hat-trick, after Kalki had done extremely well to pick him out from a forest of legs, but of course it was all academic by then.
