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Goals rain down as Talents silence Etoile
Paul Green
info@sleague.com
Beijing Guoan coach Zheng Xiaotian was certainly in no mood to rush off after his team had pulled off the shock of the season in upsetting Etoile FC 3-1 at a rain-soaked Yishun Stadium in Thursday night’s Great Eastern-YEO’S S.League match.
The outcome was a surprise to many, including perhaps Zheng himself, who was bemused by the meek manner his opponents had succumbed to his charges.
“I think they (Etoile) may have underestimated our ability a little,” he said after his players had made their way to the dressing room following the triumph.
“The pitch was difficult to play on, especially right in the middle, so we had to be careful with the way we handled the conditions.”
Beijing took the lead after 23 minutes, but showed plenty of attacking promise well before that happened, with a snapshot from Liu Teng bringing Etoile keeper Yohann Lacroix into action after eleven minutes with a fine push around the post.
Two minutes earlier a Beijing free kick had seen Teng Bin slide in at the far post and fail to connect only by the barest of margins.
“I told my players in the team meeting in the dressing room that whoever scores first on this pitch will be at a definite advantage,” said Etoile coach Patrick Vallee.
“We went out and had a look at the pitch and the players were instructed accordingly, but once they (Beijing) scored it was much easier for them to try things and to score more.”
The opening goal came after a lovely diagonal pass from wide on the left by star performer Meng Yang, who, soon after watching teammate Zhang Ye score, was cautioned for an overly robust challenge.
His efforts, though, inspired his teammates, who fought hard for every ball and adapted to the conditions better than the French side.
As the game wore on Meng was to continue to take a prominent part. Eventually he was substituted twelve minutes from the end, with that earlier caution probably playing some part in his coach’s decision to give him an early shower.
While Etoile had chances only for their luck to desert them a number of times, Beijing made the most of their own luck.
The opening goal was one such instance, as from Meng’s cross Zhang struck a first-time shot from six yards that Lacroix could not hold on to, and in a flash Zhang rifled the ball home from the rebound.
A superb save by in-form Beijing keeper Su Boyang then denied Frederic Mendy an equaliser on 27 minutes, after the lanky striker had connected perfectly with a ball whipped in from deep on the right off a free kick by Julien Deletraz.
Su leapt to his right to spectacularly prevent the on-target header finding the top left corner of the net.
Moments before the break Etoile keeper Lacroix pulled off a good save, too, to prevent Zhang’s header making it 2-0.
But the home fans did not have too long to wait to see their side press home their winning advantage.
Six minutes into the second half Meng’s diagonal pass, this time from the right and to the left by-line for Jiang Tao to deal with, produced the all-important second goal.
Jiang initially shaped to cross after taming the long pass, but then elected to go for goal from a near-impossible angle instead, slamming a low shot in at the far past, bamboozling Lacroix completely.
Then, on the hour, Beijing managed to stretch their lead to 3-0.
Once more it was that man Meng Yang who delivered, with a cross that allowed Liu to score with an easy header.
Etoile brought on big midfielder and recent signing Stephane N’cho and Serge Souchon, as well as Anthony Moulin, and it was the latter who was able to reduce the arrears on 78 minutes with a glancing near-post header from Karim Boudjema’s cross.
The Stars looked capable of pulling those two goals back to at least force a draw, but were kept busy as Beijing continually tried to extend their lead still further.
Boudjema volleyed over the bar on 79 and two minutes later, from Souchon’s pass, Kevin Yann’s chipped attempt on goal was smartly tipped over by Su.
And while Beijing continued to push forward and force a number of corners in the closing stages, it was Etoile who went closest to bridging the gap.
Mendy’s header five minutes from time went just over the bar, and a powerful shot from N’cho shortly afterwards was well saved by the Beijing keeper.
With losses to Albirex Niigata (Singapore) and now Beijing, and an interruption to their consistency in the last few weeks, Etoile’s recent showings must be music to the ears of rival coaches at Home United and Tampines Rovers, who both have strong title ambitions.
The French camp, on their part, appear to be playing down all talk of keeping up their treble chase.
“We have not spoken about the title,” said Vallee when he reviewed the game.
“We want to play it game by game, and we always try to win and to play good football.
“Tonight it was difficult to play our usual game, but I’m not going to blame the pitch as it was the same for both teams,” he said, showing good manners to take the loss in his stride.
“They scored first and that made the difference for them.”
The sticky condition of the pitch made the game difficult for both sides, especially after incessant rain on the morning of the match, but Beijing were in no mood to give in easily to a side they had already held to 0-0 at Queenstown Stadium.
This time they went one better, and one wonders if it will be the other foreign teams in Singapore who will bring Etoile to their knees, rather than their title-chasing rivals.
The French side has to visit Jurong East for their last match of the season and, with a loss to Albirex already at Queenstown, they must be anxious about playing the White Swans there if it comes down to winning that game to claim the big trophy.
But then again, Vallee is not making any claims to the title at this stage anyway.
Sengkang Punggol, Woodlands Wellington and Geylang United come next before Vallee has to concern himself with the twin challenges from Home and Tampines in September.
The question for now, though, is whether they will be able to recover from this latest setback and keep up their silverware pursuit by the time that month comes along. |
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