It was a scorching day at the stadium today. 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
Grilled:
Marcol -
Himadas,
其材 (Qicai) -
Reddy,
Khairul,
長野 (Nagano),
Teck Fu,
Andrović -
Thach,
Chitre,
An Keng.
Williams's lineup was:
Ben -
Goemaere,
Meulders,
de Jesus -
Pawelski,
Naessens,
Vandamme,
Vanhoutte,
Mpilinis -
Rimkes,
Kelderman.
It was to be a contest between two different football philosophies, since the home team started the game with a 2-5-3 formation while the visitors instead opted for 3-5-2.
Grilled clearly preferred using their
divine (+4) ability to attack in the middle.
Grilled players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead.
Grilled took the lead 8 minutes into the game by 1 - 0, as
Lim An Keng elegantly received a long range pass through the middle, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar.
Hwang Teck Fu pulled the strings in the build-up.
Williams levelled the score after 24 minutes to make it 1 - 1, as
Axel 'Leftwingerke' Pawelski struck home after a fine midfield combination through the centre, which left him completely unmarked. The terraces were silenced after 36 minutes when
Williams's
Jens 'Van46' Vandamme put the guests ahead 1 - 2, following an attack on the right.
Anton 'Toone' Naessens pulled the strings in the build-up.
Grilled tried to even things up by sending a long ball towards the centrally placed strikers, but the visitors' defence got the best of this rather direct style of play. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 2.
Williams enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 51 percent of possession.
As the 46 minute mark approached, the
Grilled coach decided it was time for a substitution.
夏 (Ha) 其材 (Qicai) reluctantly made way for
Aw Keng Chuan on the pitch.
Darko 'Donnie' Andrović became the new
Grilled captain.
Grilled's
Lim An Keng put his head to a high ball coming in from the right after 61 minutes, but the ball went wide. After 69 minutes of play,
Lim An Keng evened things up for
Grilled with an impressive goal coming up the middle. 2 - 2. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 72 minutes allowed
Axel 'Leftwingerke' Pawelski to score for
Williams. The scoreboard now read 2 - 3.
Raúl Himadas curled his corner straight toward the goal, but the tricky shot was somehow blocked by the keeper. However,
Grilled's
Gandhik Chitre managed to get hold of the rebound and scored the 3-3 goal.
Grilled had a chance to take the lead after
Mohd Marzuki Khairul's dazzling drive up the left, but the opportunity fizzled out as his shot went just over the bar after 81 minutes.
Raúl Himadas 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.
Raúl Himadas was coming off, and had placed his last free kick for the day. That meant that
元気 (Genki) 長野 (Nagano) got the chance to showcase his dead ball skills. The referee decided to let play continue for an additional 2 minutes beyond the regular 90 minutes. Under heavy pressure after 90 minutes, the inexperienced
Williams struggled to maintain their level of play.
Dré Kelderman came close to putting the visiting team one up 90 minutes into the match, following a solo raid down the middle, but
Radomil Marcol managed to tip the ball to a corner. The match ends 3 - 3.
Williams claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 52 percent.
Lim An Keng performed admirably for
Grilled.
Williams's best player was
Axel 'Leftwingerke' Pawelski.