Bohemen 2 - 6 Grilled
It was a sunny day at the stadium today. The weather was sunny, which meant perfect conditions for technical players in both teams. However, it was also quite warm, which meant quick or physically strong players were drained faster and couldn't play their best game. They fielded:
Porri -
Verclyte,
Glos,
Chebli -
Peix,
Radovčić,
Christensen,
Gądek,
贤杰 (Xianjie) -
Acquistapace,
Srzentić.
Starters:
Dob -
Webb,
中北 (Nakakita) -
Künzler,
Xin Lee,
Mohammad Harun,
Muthyala,
Dong Chu -
Ze Han,
Davlatov,
Xin Seng.
The teams had chosen different formations for the match. Home team Bohemen Cape Town went for 3-5-2 while Grilled Birds has decided to play a 2-5-3 lineup. Grilled used their divine (+5) ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the pitch, rather than on the wings. The visiting
Moey Xin Seng was booed thoroughly by the home crowd 2 minutes into the game, after he broke through the middle and scored, resulting in the visitors taking the lead. 0 - 1 was the score. After 4 minutes, Grilled's
Chu Xin Lee burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 0 - 2. Grilled had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks.
Chan Ze Han 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
Giuseppe Porri but overcooked it and hit the bar instead. With 13 minutes played,
Islom Davlatov nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through in the middle and fired from just outside the box, but his shot passed just over the bar. After 19 minutes,
Cyril Künzler sent the corner kick right to
Moey Xin Seng who headed it sharply past the keeper. 0 - 3!
Moey Xin Seng could have put his team up another goal 23 minutes into the game, after a rush down the left, but his closing shot hit the post. 0 - 3 was the score after the first half. Grilled claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 59 percent.
46 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a Bohemen substitution.
Nicolas Marion came on for
Jesús Peix. After 46 minutes, the Grilled coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving
悠太 (Yuta) 中北 (Nakakita) off the field.
Bhavya Panigrahi took his place. As the 46 minute mark approached, the Grilled coach decided it was time for a substitution.
Neeraj Muthyala reluctantly made way for
Kalki Parvathaneni on the pitch. With 48 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed
Chan Ze Han of Grilled to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 0 - 4. With 53 minutes played, Grilled put themselves up 0 - 5 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was
Moey Xin Seng. This third goal completed a hattrick for
Moey Xin Seng. With 63 minutes gone, a long pass from the defence of Bohemen resulted in a counterattack that set
Tomasz Gądek free through the middle, but the keeper made a spectacular diving save. Bohemen caught their opponents out with a clever counterattack down the right wing 72 minutes into the match.
Đorđije Srzentić was able to finish off the move - 1 - 5. The referee decided to let play continue for an additional 1 minute beyond the regular 90 minutes. Grilled increased their lead after 89 minutes when
Islom Davlatov broke through on the right, upping the score to 1 - 6, much to the home crowd's dismay. Bohemen reduced the lead to 2 - 6 with 89 minutes on the clock when
Ivano Acquistapace got the best of a ball floated in from the left. The match ends 2 - 6. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Grilled, with 57 percent of the ball.
Bohemen's best player was
Ivano Acquistapace.
Kevin Glos turned in a dismal performance, however.
Islom Davlatov performed admirably for Grilled.
Bhavya Panigrahi was a disappointment, however.