Grilled 2 - 3 777
Dark skies made the crowd at the stadium today a little nervous, but the rain held off. Lineup:
Dob -
Webb,
中北 (Nakakita) -
Künzler,
Xin Lee,
Mohammad Harun,
Muthyala,
Dong Chu -
Ze Han,
Davlatov,
Xin Seng.
Starters:
Hanino -
Curtis,
Thying,
Claesson,
Bin Ahmad Al-Rumaihi,
Burdin -
Hofstetter,
Kilpinen,
Zăpârţan,
Hữu Đang,
Schwab -.
Grilled Birds started the game in a 2-5-3 formation, whereas 777 lined up in a 5-5-0 formation. Grilled used their divine (+5) ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the pitch, rather than on the wings. Going for long shots seemed to be the pick of the day for 777, taking advantage of their divine (+1) level with that tactic. After some beautiful movement down the left wing,
Chan Ze Han scored for Grilled putting them ahead 1 - 0, after 8 minutes. Instead of playing a 50/50 ball into the penalty area, 777's
Benjamin Hofstetter skipped past the marking defender and passed the ball to
Juan Antonio Schwab who finished it off from distance. The keeper could only stand and watch as the hard shot hit the underside of the cross bar, and in to make it 1 - 1 with 16 minutes played. It was showtime for artist
Islom Davlatov who showed off his technical mastery when he rounded
Karl Claesson and finished with a goal to make the score 2 - 1. The teams went for the halftime break at 2 - 1. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Grilled, with 52 percent of the ball.
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. 46 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a Grilled substitution.
Kalki Parvathaneni came on for
Neeraj Muthyala. After 51 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by
Bilal Mohammad Harun might have resulted in another goal for Grilled. However,
Ara Hanino made a spectacular save. After 53 minutes 777 showed the crowd a glorious passing play which put
Launo Kilpinen in a perfect shooting position. His low hard shot was just as glorious, placed just inside the keeper's right post making it 2 - 2. 777 succeeded with their tactics after 54 minutes faking a cross into the penalty area, but instead passing a short side pass back to
Qasim Bin Ahmad Al-Rumaihi who met the ball directly with his outstretched foot. The hard long shot touched the keeper's finger tips, but it wasn't enough to stop it from going in. 2 - 3. 777's defence sent a ball soaring up the middle on a beautiful counterattack with 56 minutes gone, but
Arnold Curtis's finish was met by the reaching hands of the keeper. Grilled put pressure on the visitors' central defence 62 minutes into the game, but
Chu Xin Lee couldn't find an opening. The referee announced 1 minute of stoppage time, giving fans a slim hope that their team could get one more attack in before this was all over. The match ends 2 - 3. Possession in this half belonged to Grilled, who controlled the ball 52 percent of the time.
Moey Xin Seng performed admirably for Grilled.
Bhavya Panigrahi was a disappointment, however. Most important 777 player was
Ara Hanino. However,
Jan Thying made a disastrous appearance.