The spectators at the stadium today were in for an afternoon of sunshine. It was a sunny day and the Technical players could roll the ball around with ease. Those that had to chase after the ball found the weather less appealing, it especially stymied the game of Powerful and Quick players. The following players had been chosen by
Skrzydelka:
Vieira -
Williams,
Rivera,
Dzianach -
Kubiczek,
Rybczak,
Agata,
Klita,
Rygiel -
Ciepieniak,
Ranković.
Grilled's lineup was:
Marcol -
Himadas,
其材 (Qicai) -
Reddy,
Khairul,
長野 (Nagano),
Teck Fu,
Andrović -
Thach,
Chitre,
An Keng.
Skrzydelka entered the field in a 3-5-2 formation. The visitors,
Grilled Birds, chose to start the game with a 2-5-3 lineup.
Grilled used their
divine (+4) ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the pitch, rather than on the wings. 8 minutes into the match, the technically gifted
Gandhik Chitre of
Grilled scored 0 - 1, having made
Andrzej Agata look like a complete fool.
Juan Rivera showed the skills that make him a real crowd pleaser as he, after 17 minutes, wove through the guests' entire central defence and put the 1 - 1 equaliser away. After 23 minutes,
Fryderyk Dzianach came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 2 - 1, giving
Skrzydelka the lead.
Grilled had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks. 32 minutes into the game
Grilled's
Mohd Marzuki Khairul found a gap in the home side's central defence and scored with a fabulous shot, making it 2 - 2.
Skrzydelka fans held their breath as
Petar Ranković scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 3 - 2!
Andrzej Rygiel increased the lead for
Skrzydelka to 4 - 2, getting a head onto a hooked ball from the right. The ball looked to have taken a deflection on the way in, but he's claiming it! It was 4 - 2 at the break.
Skrzydelka claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 51 percent.
After 46 minutes, the
Grilled coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving
夏 (Ha) 其材 (Qicai) off the field.
Aw Keng Chuan took his place.
Darko 'Donnie' Andrović was the new captain of
Grilled - handed the armband by the departing player.
Raúl Himadas had a couple of good opportunities to reply after getting through the middle of the opposition defence, but the home team's keeper
Jacinto Vieira was simply unbeatable. With 74 minutes played,
Lim An Keng had a fantastic opportunity to reply but his shot from the middle flew harmlessly wide of the goal. Coming from the right,
Franciszek Klita almost managed to score another goal for
Skrzydelka, but his header was tipped over the bar by the visitors' keeper.
Darko 'Donnie' Andrović's speed is always a threat when he gets a little room to move, and 79 minutes into the match was no different as he broke free of his man to send a delightful through ball to
Chad Thach who knocked it in for
Grilled. 4 - 3!
Grilled's
Chad Thach was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 84 minutes. 85 minutes in,
Skrzydelka's
Amadeusz Ciepieniak received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. As the 89 minute mark approached, the
Grilled coach decided it was time for a substitution.
Raúl Himadas reluctantly made way for
Damian Hutter on the pitch. With
Raúl Himadas no longer on the pitch,
元気 (Genki) 長野 (Nagano) took over free kick duty. The players were tired, but when the referee announced that there would be 2 minutes of added time they, nonetheless, welcomed the extra opportunity to make an impact. The match ends 4 - 3. Possession in this half belonged to
Skrzydelka, who controlled the ball 53 percent of the time.
Skrzydelka's best player was
Petar Ranković.
Grilled's top performer was clearly
Gandhik Chitre.