Grilled 3 - 0 Xaviers
Clear skies welcomed the 71555 spectators who had made their way to
The Cooking Pot.
Sepehr Eskafi was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Celso Nunes and
Mihkel Palk. Grilled's lineup was:
Dob -
Webb,
中北 (Nakakita) -
Künzler,
Mohammad Harun,
Muthyala,
Xin Seng,
Dong Chu -
Parvathaneni,
Egan,
Mudaliar.
Xaviers's starters:
Sauri -
Hayden,
Kovero,
Belgrano,
Husain Khairul Akmal -
Petsas,
Xin Lai,
Nie Jie,
Chu,
Gouda -
Ulisse.
Grilled Birds started the game in a 2-5-3 formation, whereas St. Xavier's FC lined up in a 4-5-1 formation. Grilled were clearly looking ahead to the next match rather than focusing on the one at hand. Grilled seemed to prefer attacking in the middle, taking advantage of their divine (+5) level with that tactic. It was obvious that Xaviers were using their formidable pressing skill as their primary tactic. Xaviers's
Alberto Belgrano got himself booked for a foul. The visitors' central defence should have had no trouble clearing the pass to
Gilbert Webb, but the Grilled player managed to shrug them off and fired a low shot past the keeper to give his team the lead. 1 - 0! Grilled put in a good effort on the right, but
Heng Dong Chu saw his volley fly wide of the mark 16 minutes into the game. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 0. Grilled enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 64 percent of possession.
The lead for Grilled could unravel if the team did not start taking their opponents more seriously. The captain called a quick huddle before kick off to make sure everyone understood what was at stake.
悠太 (Yuta) 中北 (Nakakita) would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise.
Bhavya Panigrahi entered the game for Grilled as the match clock showed 46 minutes. Xaviers's ability to press all over the field frequently paid dividends. Xaviers's
Hilman Abd Ghani Husain Khairul Akmal was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 70 minutes. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Grilled's
Neeraj Muthyala increasing the lead to 2 - 0. After 80 minutes, the Grilled coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving
Moey Xin Seng off the field.
Chan Ze Han took his place. The Grilled captaincy was handed to
Chan Ze Han. 80 minutes into the match,
Cyril Künzler could have extended the lead, but his powerful free kick went just over the bar. Grilled's
Chan Ze Han increased the lead to 3 - 0, after he saw his shot go between the legs of the advancing goalkeeper following some good play down the right wing after 84 minutes.
Bernie Egan could have increased the lead after 89 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. The match ends 3 - 0. Grilled claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 67 percent.
The most dominating Grilled player was without a doubt
Kalki Parvathaneni.
Bhavya Panigrahi was a disappointment, however. Most important Xaviers player was
Franco Ulisse. However,
Haytham Gouda made a disastrous appearance.