Dark skies made the crowd at the stadium today a little nervous, but the rain held off. The following players took the field: Nazlı - Beurms, Sobus, Lion - Yanez, Benítez, Tiercelin, Marinkovic - Cadagán, Belmar.

Starters: Dob - Webb, Panigrahi - Künzler, Xin Lee, Mohammad Harun, Muthyala, Dong Chu - Ze Han, Davlatov, Xin Seng.

Che Querido started the game in a 3-4-2 formation, whereas Grilled Birds lined up in a 2-5-3. 5 minutes into the game, Chan Ze Han was a hair's width away from giving Grilled the lead with a shot from the left. A timely dive by Mahmut Nazlı saved the home team on this occasion. Many thought Benjamín Belmar ought to have been awarded a penalty 21 minutes into the match, as he went down trying to beat Massoud Dob after an attack through the middle gave him the one-on-one opportunity. A corner kick created massive confusion in the penalty area, with a near-goal by Heng Dong Chu. At last, Grilled's Neeraj Muthyala was able to will the ball into the net. 0 - 1. Maybe it was because of his team's lead, or maybe it was due to the ease with which he broke down the left, but Cyril Künzler was a bit too sure of his talents, so instead of taking the easy tap-in goal after 29 minutes, he went for the backheel, which he put woefully wide. Big paper red cards were being held up by the opposing supporters with 30 minutes on the clock after Bhavya Panigrahi's mistimed tackle from behind. The referee only showed the Grilled player a yellow card though. The home fans looked somber as they watched their team give up another goal, this one coming from their right as Chan Ze Han put one through the keeper's legs. 0 - 2 after 34 minutes. Romain Lion was the first to reach the corner kick, but his header was blocked by the keeper. However, Querido's Federico Yanez managed to get ahold of the rebound and scored to make it 1 - 2. The game had been going for 36 minutes when Chan Ze Han broke through on the right, upping the score to 1 - 3 for Grilled, much to the home crowd's dismay. 40 minutes in, Querido appeared unsure on how to play and their organization was only weak. The away team's Islom Davlatov took advantage of a mistake on the home side's right after 41 minutes increasing Grilled's lead to 1 - 4. It was 1 - 4 at the break. Grilled had the upper hand in possession, maintaining an impressive 69 percent possession of the ball.

A review of the gameplan helped Querido get back to a solid organization to start the second half. 46 minutes into the match, the referee signaled for a Grilled substitution. Bernie Egan came on for Neeraj Muthyala. 46 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game. Islom Davlatov gave Kalki Parvathaneni a quick hug as he left the field. The home side worked hard to get through the middle and as a result, had a good chance of getting one back as Benjamín Belmar tried lifting the ball over keeper Massoud Dob. Unfortunately, the ball went just over the bar. 66 minutes into the game, Querido had difficulty finding their positions and their organization dropped to inadequate. With the scoreboard showing that 72 minutes had been played, Grilled nearly put themselves up another goal after Heng Dong Chu came through on the left. Fortunately for the home crowd, the keeper made the save. The ball was in the back of the home team's net yet again after 73 minutes, but this time the referee called the goal back because Kalki Parvathaneni had knocked a member of the opposing team to the ground while the play occurred down the middle of the field. 74 minutes into the game, Querido seemed a little tentative in their play as their organization fell to inadequate. As the 75 minute mark approached, the Grilled manager decided it was time for a substitution. Chan Ze Han reluctantly made way for Vikram Mudaliar. Grilled's Chu Xin Lee received a ball slotted perfectly through the home side's central defense after 75 minutes, and chipped it past the helpless keeper to increase the lead to 1 - 5. The away fans won't regret traveling for this one! A defender managed to keep the ball from crossing the goal-line after a curling shot from the right by Kalki Parvathaneni beat the keeper with 77 minutes played, preventing Grilled from going up another goal. The fourth official announced that there would be 2 minutes 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 1 - 5. Grilled did a good job holding on to the ball, with 70 percent of possession. We'll be back after these interminable commercial messages.

Aroldo Cadagán performed admirably for Querido. I can't remember Valerio Benítez ever having a worse night than he just had. Most important Grilled player was Kalki Parvathaneni. Speaking of stinking up the place, Gilbert Webb sure smelled like the bottom of Batman's shoe after a night of crimefighting in Gotham.