The clouds were hanging menacingly over the stadium today. The following players had been selected: Dob - Webb, Panigrahi - K�nzler, Xin Lee, Mohammad Harun, Muthyala, Dong Chu - Egan, Parvathaneni, Xin Seng.

The following players took the field: Hjertst�l - Kochev, R�ts, Noboa - Sandoval, Guja, Elos�a, Cambeiro, Segovia - Salgado, Chaler.

Grilled Birds trundled out to the pitch in a 2-5-3 formation. The visitors, metal allstars, chose to start the game with a 3-5-2 lineup. Grilled used their divine (+5) ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the field. After 13 minutes of play, Grilled's Chu Xin Lee unexpectedly kicked the ball with reverse spin, and from no angle at all it ended up at the feet of Bernie Egan who had an easy tap-in for 1 - 0. Cheers filled the stadium as Bhavya Panigrahi broke through the visitors' central defense to put away the 2 - 0 goal for Grilled. Cyril K�nzler had a fantastic opportunity to put Grilled up another goal 29 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Grilled's Moey Xin Seng bringing the lead up to 3 - 0. Grilled's Heng Dong Chu saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates 33 minutes in. metal's Germ�n Elos�a was shown a yellow card after 35 minutes for slicing down an opponent. The teams went for the halftime break at 3 - 0. Grilled set the tempo, maintaining 61 percent of possession.

With 48 minutes played, Moey Xin Seng could have brought this one home for Grilled as he charged up on the left, but his hooked ball went just a bit too high. The referee showed Grilled's Kalki Parvathaneni the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. 60 minutes into the match, the referee signaled for a Grilled substitution. Islom Davlatov came on for Bernie Egan. 60 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game. Chu Xin Lee gave Chan Ze Han a quick hug as he left the field. The home team's lead was reduced to 3 - 1 after metal's Ramon Chaler took advantage of a misunderstanding in the center of the defense. The clock read 63 minutes and things were deteriorating for the away team as Grilled scored another to make it 4 - 1 after a left side attack resulted in a goal for Neeraj Muthyala. With 64 minutes on the clock, Cyril K�nzler could have extended the lead, but his rocket of a free kick went just over the bar. Veselin Kochev looked around after sending his opponent to the ground to realize he was the last man. That's called denial of a goalscoring opportunity, and the metal player was sent off after 77 minutes. With 78 minutes played, Germ�n Elos�a had a fantastic opportunity to reply but his shot from the middle nicked the post and went out. After a play down the right 79 minutes into the match, Grilled's Neeraj Muthyala unleashed a ferocious shot that smashed into the roof of the net - after going over the crossbar. Things were going from bad to worse for the visitors. Cyril K�nzler was able to squirm through the central defense after 81 minutes and score, bringing the lead to 5 - 1. As the match nears its end, the referee deemed it appropriate to add 3 minutes as stoppage time. The match ends 5 - 1. Nikki Minaj appeared on the Jumbotron wearing pink lipstick, a towering pile of platinum-white hair, and a pair of soccer balls. Grilled's top performer was clearly Islom Davlatov. Speaking of stinking up the place, Gilbert Webb sure smelled like the bottom of Batman's shoe after a night of crimefighting in Gotham. Ramon Chaler performed admirably for metal. You can tell it was nickel beer night yesterday at the local bar because Germ�n Elos�a seemed to stumble all over the pitch.