Manamah 1 - 6 Grilled
The fans braved the pouring rain at the stadium today. The wet pitch made it difficult for technical or quick players to stand out. For once, the players relying on physical strength gained the upper hand. The following players took the field:
Kanoo -
Al-Ansari,
Miranda,
Badawi -
Al Sawaidi,
Guerini,
Dimovski,
Émond,
Ansaloni -
Meihofer,
Asimakopoulos.
The following players had been chosen:
Dob -
Webb,
Panigrahi -
Parvathaneni,
Xin Lee,
Mohammad Harun,
Muthyala,
Dong Chu -
Ze Han,
Egan,
Xin Seng.
Manamah United Football Club fielded a 3-5-2 lineup. For Grilled Birds, the formation of choice was 2-5-3. The visiting
Moey Xin Seng was booed thoroughly by the home crowd 5 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 6 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for
Neeraj Muthyala who increased Grilled's lead to 0 - 2. Grilled increased the lead to 0 - 3 as
Bhavya Panigrahi scored from the penalty spot, putting the ball in near the top left corner. 15 minutes into the game, Grilled worked the left side industriously creating several opportunities to add to their lead, but just couldn't apply the finishing touch.
Moey Xin Seng of Grilled took advantage of a mistake on the home side's right after 16 minutes which increased the away team's lead to 0 - 4. Halftime score was 0 - 4. Grilled enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 62 percent of possession.
Bhavya Panigrahi got left behind when Manamah's
Grégoire Meihofer left scorch marks in the turf 50 minutes, finishing off with a blisteringly swift strike. 1-4! 54 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 1 - 5 as
Gilbert Webb finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. A drive down the left side allowed
Bernie Egan to get in close and score another goal for Grilled after 67 minutes, taking the score to 1 - 6.
Grégoire Meihofer did everything he could to get one back for his Manamah, but keeper
Massoud Dob denied him with a spectacular block. After 80 minutes, the Grilled coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving
Bhavya Panigrahi off the field.
悠太 (Yuta) 中北 (Nakakita) took his place. As
Bhavya Panigrahi left the field, the coach signaled to
悠太 (Yuta) 中北 (Nakakita) to be the new set pieces taker. As the 80 minute mark approached, the Grilled coach decided it was time for a substitution.
Neeraj Muthyala reluctantly made way for
Islom Davlatov on the pitch. It was announced by the referee that he estimated stoppage time to be around 2 minutes. This meant there could still be an extra attack or two left in the match! The match ends 1 - 6. Possession in this half belonged to Grilled, who controlled the ball 64 percent of the time.
Most important Manamah player was
Viktor Dimovski. On the other hand,
Mushtaq Kanoo's play was disheartening. Grilled's best player was
Moey Xin Seng.
Kalki Parvathaneni turned in a dismal performance, however.