Grilled 3 - 2 Escaldes
73 punters turned up at
The Cooking Pot, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came.
Frederik Radich Christensen was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Hugo Diniz Lima and
Dejan Čurčić. Grilled had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Noubaryan - Ross, bin Ahmad, Bakhtiar - 力勇 (Liyong), bin Mohd Kassim, Ying Lee, 勇航 (Yonghang) , 福泉 (Fuquan) - Wan Kang, Shaahee.
Escaldes decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. The following players had been chosen: Giovannetti - Parapar, Robin, Insúa - Muscarello, Tacón, Cupaiolo, Leborgne, Pedrós - Schaub, Nilsson.
The wings were the focus of most of Escaldes's attacks today. Escaldes's
A. Muscarello was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 4 minutes. A crazy pass by
Hilal Bakhtiar">
Hilal Bakhtiar towards his own keeper almost caused a goal for Escaldes, but
Pere Schaub didn't get the finish right. Escaldes's
A. Insúa got himself booked for a foul. The guests took the lead 31 minutes into the match, after a right-side attack resulted in
F. Tacón scoring to make it 0 - 1.
Walter Ross could have scored for Grilled with his free kick after 32 minutes, but the visitors' keeper just managed to get a hand on it. Escaldes's counterattacks were lethal to the opposing defence, allowing
F. Tacón to score easily from the right flank for 0 - 2. With 35 minutes gone, Escaldes's
A. Muscarello had to leave the pitch after talking back to the referee and receiving his second booking. The teams went for the halftime break at 0 - 2. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Grilled, with 53 percent of the ball.
Grilled needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 46 minutes
Shiya Shaahee made way for
Djan Bacelar. After the ball was lifted in from the left,
Wilhelm Nilsson was on his own in the home side's penalty area and should have scored after 52 minutes, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. A penalty kick was awarded to Grilled 59 minutes into the match, and
Walter Ross expertly put it away. 1 - 2. After 70 minutes, Grilled switched
Rashid bin Ahmad with
Gleb Dorogan, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. With 71 minutes played,
F. Tacón of Escaldes fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. Due to some great work on the right wing Grilled's
Leong Wan Kang was able to even the score after 75 minutes to make the score 2 - 2. After 79 minutes of play,
田. 勇航 (Yonghang) gave the home team a 3 - 2 lead after an attack coming in from the right. The Grilled players could smell victory in the air.
Leong Wan Kang wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for
Sandy Fu after 87 minutes. Grilled enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 57 percent of possession.
田. 勇航 (Yonghang) performed admirably for Grilled. However,
Hovaness Noubaryan made a disastrous appearance. Escaldes's best player was
David Cupaiolo.
C. Pedrós on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 2.