Shining 5 - 2 Grilled
irly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 36739 to Blackout Arena.
Terry Gerritsen was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Hossam Raed and
José Eduardo Ybarra Pacheco. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Shining. Starters: Badia - 坤超 (Kunchao) , Duggan, Trudu - Mayer, Ajala, Wörishofer, Riaubiškis, Sellerup - Embil, Gürçay.
Grilled had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players took the field: Stacey - Ross, 俊桂 (Jungui), Madaini - Iten, Fonseca, 尊文 (Zunwen) , 长春 (Changchun), Djekshenkulov - bin Mohd Kassim, Ying Lee.
For their match strategy, Grilled had decided to use their ability to counter-attack whenever possible. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Grilled's
Chow Ying Lee after 21 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 0 - 1 lead. 23 minutes in, and Shining were able to score the equalising goal to make it 1 - 1 when
Manuel Embil picked up a pass coming in from the right and chipped it past the away team's keeper. Shining created a good opportunity to score 24 minutes into the match when
Rūstis Riaubiškis's hooked ball from the left created a scuffle in front of the goal, and the visitors' defenders had a hard time clearing the ball.
Qassem Madaini showed why he is feared on the counterattack, breaking through in the middle and scoring for Grilled after 25 minutes to make the score 1 - 2. After 31 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as Grilled found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to
weak. A lovely run by Shining's
Hannes Mayer left his markers for dead and should have resulted in a goal, but the finish went just wide. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 2. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Shining, with 64 percent of the ball.
The coach gave his players an extra tactical briefing during the break, and after that Grilled had
passable organisation.
Seytek Djekshenkulov of Grilled was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. The bench was restless, and with 55 minutes passed Shining's coach gave
Teemu Vaaranto the opportunity the player had been hoping for.
Kurt Sellerup reluctantly left the field. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Shining's
Bora Gürçay was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 55 minutes.
Richardos Mpelonis was given a chance to change things around. Shining 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.
Alex Fonseca left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 75 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead.
Abdul bin Jantan was the replacement. 79 minutes into the game, Grilled had difficulty finding their positions and their organisation dropped to
passable. One of many good crosses from
Hannes Mayer on the wing was received and skillfully taken care of by
Manuel Embil, who scored for Shining. 2 - 2 The home side put themselves ahead 3 - 2 after 82 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from
Teemu Vaaranto, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing.
Siegwart Wörishofer could have increased the lead after 83 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. Shining solidified their lead at the 84 minute mark, as
Manuel Embil dribbled the ball through the opposing central defence and scored to make it 4 - 2. That was his third goal of the match - a hat trick for
Manuel Embil. By now, the players in Shining felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. The Shining free kick 86 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But was this actually a plan? The ball landed at the feet of
Giovanni Trudu, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 5 - 2! After 89 minutes, Grilled switched
Walter Ross with
Neo Da Teck, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. Shining claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 63 percent.
The most dominating Shining player was without a doubt
Manuel Embil. On the other hand,
Antoni Badia's play was disheartening. Most important Grilled player was
Mohd Safri bin Mohd Kassim.
Neo Da Teck turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 5 - 2.