BotelhasFC 3 - 4 Grilled
The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 5736 had shown up at
Catedral do Beco for the match.
Anthony Robinson was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Lukas Rohringer and
Antonino Irineu. The following players took the field for BotelhasFC:
Vieira -
Laroca,
Coelho,
Hierro,
Samina,
Rego Pereira -
Figueiredo,
Hellebuyck,
Tsepulin,
Junyent -
Vickholm.
Grilled's starters:
Germanakos -
Hutter,
El Khateeb -
Trindade,
Chitre,
Thach,
An Keng,
田宮 (Tamiya) -
Kwang Tse,
Khairul,
Teck Fu.
BotelhasFC entered the field in a 5-4-1 formation. The visitors, Grilled Birds, chose to start the game with a 2-5-3 lineup. Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for BotelhasFC on this day, taking advantage of their titanic (15) level with that tactic. Grilled mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle, taking advantage of their divine (+5) (25) level with that tactic. Grilled players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. 0 - 1 was the score with 22 minutes played, after
Hwang Teck Fu cut through the central defence and chipped home a goal for Grilled.
Paulino Trindade came close to extending the visitors' lead when he found himself completely unmarked in front of the goal after a pass through the middle. He tried to lift the ball over
Pedro Jorge Vieira but overcooked it and hit the bar instead.
Daniel Junyent almost caused an own goal when he foolishly sent the ball towards his own goalie, but at the last minute one of his teammates managed to stop the ball. A defender managed to keep the ball from crossing the goal-line after a curling shot coming in from the right from
Chad Thach after 31 minutes, and prevented Grilled from going up another goal. Good work by the BotelhasFC defensive line after 32 minutes produced a good counterattack chance, which cut elegantly down the middle of the pitch and found
Gonçalo Laroca alone in front of the goal, but his shot whistled just wide. 33 minutes in, and BotelhasFC were able to score the equalising goal to make it 1 - 1 when
Roberto Rego Pereira picked up a pass coming in from the right and chipped it past the away team's keeper. BotelhasFC took the lead 37 minutes in, as
Yaroslav Tsepulin broke through on the left and put the 2 - 1 shot just beyond the reach of the outstretched keeper. Grilled's coach was not happy when
冬馬 (Toma) 田宮 (Tamiya) missed a penalty 39 minutes into the match. It was 2 - 1 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to Grilled, who controlled the ball 66 percent of the time.
Grilled had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks. Grilled had a chance to level the scores as
Gandhik Chitre suddenly found himself free in the middle of the box with only the keeper to beat, but he misjudged the finish, and only managed to hit the bar. After 51 minutes, a well-worked counterattack by BotelhasFC on the right presented an easy opportunity in front of the goal that was duly converted by
Ville Vickholm to make it 3 - 1. The visitors replied 59 minutes into the game, reducing the home side's lead to 3 - 2, as
Chia Kwang Tse dashed up the middle, easily lobbing the ball over the home team's keeper. Perseverance paid off for Grilled as
冬馬 (Toma) 田宮 (Tamiya) equalised for them, making it 3 - 3 with a fabulous free kick. The home crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief when
Chia Kwang Tse was unable to put the ball in the net after his show of skill down the left 70 minutes into the match. He was seen beating the pitch in frustration at missing such a good chance to give his team the lead! After 71 minutes, Grilled's
冬馬 (Toma) 田宮 (Tamiya) made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 3 - 4. 89 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game.
Damian Hutter gave
Atang Mangoye a quick hug as he left the field. As the 89 minute mark approached, the Grilled coach decided it was time for a substitution.
Gandhik Chitre reluctantly made way for
Teo Chuan Yong on the pitch. The players were tired, but when the referee announced that there would be 3 minutes of added time they, nonetheless, welcomed the extra opportunity to make an impact. The match ends 3 - 4. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Grilled, with 66 percent of the ball.
Most important BotelhasFC player was
Humberto Coelho. On the other hand,
Fernando Hierro's play was disheartening.
Chia Kwang Tse performed admirably for Grilled. However,
Atang Mangoye made a disastrous appearance.