Grilled 5 - 3 Vilnius
Dark skies made the crowd at the stadium today a little nervous, but the rain held off. The following players took the field:
Vadalà -
Webb,
Jeftić -
Kamel,
Ze Han,
ter Berg,
Muthyala,
Xin Lee -
Parvathaneni,
Xin Seng,
Egan.
The following players had been selected:
Fako -
Nemilý,
Dundek,
Bošternák -
Slamenec,
Vačok,
Novákovský,
Kriho -
Krasničan,
Furák,
Varšanský.
Grilled Birds fielded a 2-5-3 lineup. For FC Vilnius Hai, the formation of choice was a 3-4-3. Grilled mostly ignored the flanks in favor of their divine (+7) ability to attack in the middle. With 4 minutes gone, the home side took a 1 - 0 lead as
Moey Xin Seng raced down the right flank and casually flipped the ball into the net after a searing cross from the far side of the pitch. After 30 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by
Kalle ter Berg might have resulted in another goal for Grilled. However,
Ivan Fako made a spectacular save. Proving that a foot massage and a pre-game pedicure can work wonders,
Mateja Jeftić sent a rocket into the box from the corner, finding
Moey Xin Seng, who headed it past the keeper with extreme prejudice. 38 minutes in and it's 2 - 0! Grilled solidified their lead at the 39 minute mark, as
Chan Ze Han snaked the ball through the central line of defense and finished for 3 - 0. Vilnius never say die, and though it wasn't a pretty goal,
Blahoslav Kriho offered the visiting fans a glimmer of hope after 40 minutes. That makes it 3 - 1. Grilled were determined to attack in the middle, even their wing attacks ended up coming through the center. Cheers filled the stadium as
Chu Xin Lee broke through the visitors' central defense to put away the 4 - 1 goal for Grilled. Halftime score was 4 - 1. Grilled did a good job holding on to the ball, with 60 percent of possession. We'll be back after these interminable commercial messages.
After 68 minutes, Vilnius sent a free kick in high over the penalty box. In what looked like a well-rehearsed move, the ball was headed backwards and reached
Vladimír Vačok, who had plenty of time to shoot and score - 4 - 2. After 70 minutes, the Grilled coach wanted to see a new face on the field, waving
Chu Xin Lee off.
Heng Dong Chu took his place.
Moey Xin Seng had a fantastic opportunity to put Grilled up another goal 72 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. The home team's lead was reduced to 4 - 3 after Vilnius's
Mikuláš Varšanský took advantage of a misunderstanding in the center of the defense. The Grilled free kick 75 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But it was no mistake -
Heng Dong Chu seemingly came out of nowhere and had miles of space to control the ball and pick his spot. That's 5 - 3! 85 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game.
Kalle ter Berg gave
Bilal Mohammad Harun a quick hug as he left the field. As the 85 minute mark approached, the Grilled manager decided it was time for a substitution.
Mateja Jeftić reluctantly made way for
Bhavya Panigrahi. As
Mateja Jeftić left the field, the coach signaled to
Neeraj Muthyala to be the new set pieces taker. The fourth official announced that there would be 3 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 5 - 3. Well, look at this! Cardi B is on the Enormotron in naught but giant sunglasses, red tassles, and a Holy Hand Grenades of Antioch tank top. I've not seen anything like it before. Grilled's best player was
Bernie Egan. Good thing
Manuel Vadalà isn't a horse, because he'd surely be sent to the glue factory after that performance. The most outstanding Vilnius player was without a doubt
Mikuláš Varšanský. Speaking of stinking up the place,
Florián Krasničan sure smelled like the bottom of Batman's shoe after a night of crimefighting in Gotham.