Queenstown 4 - 3 Grilled
The 51729 fans in attendance at
MZK Stadium were roasting in the hot sun.
Jérémy Boivent was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Marcus Mertl and
Lode Mast. For some players the sunny weather was bad news. It made Powerful and Quick players a bit sluggish. For Technical players, it was instead an advantage, allowing them to shine on the pitch. The following players took the field for Queenstown:
Santirocchi -
Rotenberg,
Fernández del Cerro -
Jie,
Jing Wee,
Aron,
Razin Abdul Rafi,
Ho Jie -
M'Madi,
Boğ,
Khade.
Grilled fielded:
Germanakos -
Keng Chuan,
其材 (Qicai) -
Reddy,
Teck Fu,
Kwang Tse,
Khairul,
Trindade -
Thach,
Chitre,
An Keng.
As the teams prepared to start the match, they both lined up in a 2-5-3 formation. Queenstown mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle, taking advantage of their divine (+2) (22) level with that tactic. With 4 minutes gone, Grilled had a free kick in a decent position. Despite this being a great chance for a shot, they tried a cheeky move intended to bypass the defence. However,
Chad Thach did not manage to connect with it cleanly and the ball went out. Some good play on the left wing created an opportunity for the visitors 9 minutes into the match, and
Lim An Keng wasn't about to let it go by. He got past the defenders and fired a shot that the keeper just missed. 0 - 1 for the visitors. After 10 minutes of play,
Tomáš Aron equalised for Queenstown after an elegant attack from the right. Queenstown were determined to attack in the middle, even their wing attacks ended up centrally. Many thought
Combo M'Madi ought to have been awarded a penalty 19 minutes into the game, as he went down trying to dribble around
Dimitris Germanakos after a determined run through the middle. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 1. Grilled had most of the ball, with 53 percent of possession.
After 60 minutes,
Hernán Fernández del Cerro slowly got up on his feet, clutching his left thigh, but eventually signalled that he was ready to play on. Queenstown took the lead 61 minutes in, as
Adem Boğ broke through on the left and put the 2 - 1 shot just beyond the reach of the outstretched keeper. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents,
Chad Thach got himself booked. The manager of Grilled was not happy. Grilled tied it all up, 63 minutes in, after a spectacular goal by
Lim An Keng, who miraculously broke through the home side's central defence, making it 2 - 2. Queenstown broke through on the left 64 minutes into the game, with
Adem Boğ firing in from an acute angle to give the home side a 3 - 2 lead. Having been awarded a free kick in an awkward position after 65 minutes, Queenstown did not go for a shot but instead fired the ball hard into the 6 yard box. After a brief tussle with his marker,
Phua Jing Wee was able to power the ball past the keeper to make the score 4 - 2. A corner kick created great disorder in the penalty area with a goal nearly scored by
Chia Kwang Tse. At last, Grilled's
Mohd Marzuki Khairul was able to backheel the ball in. 4 - 3. As the 89 minute mark approached, the Grilled coach decided it was time for a substitution.
Brian 'Was Born' Reddy reluctantly made way for
Teo Chuan Yong on the pitch.
Aw Keng Chuan would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise.
Damian Hutter entered the game for Grilled as the match clock showed 89 minutes. With
Aw Keng Chuan no longer on the pitch,
Teo Chuan Yong became the new set pieces taker. The referee decided to let play continue for an additional 3 minutes beyond the regular 90 minutes. The match ends 4 - 3. Grilled enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 52 percent of possession.
Queenstown's top performer was clearly
Amal Razin Abdul Rafi.
Hernán Fernández del Cerro on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Grilled player was without a doubt
Gandhik Chitre. However,
Teo Chuan Yong made a disastrous appearance.