The 2 - 5 Grilled
80000 punters turned up at
The EV Arena, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came.
Miroslav Tůma was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Abdallah Alhakam Tamer and
László Fodor. The following players had been chosen by The:
Younes -
Gemer,
Fiorilli,
Smalbil -
Benko,
Cheng Lai,
Wai Rong,
Nakamura,
Hatoum -
Ševeček,
Amanajás.
Grilled's lineup was:
Dob -
Jeftić,
Panigrahi -
Mohammad Harun,
Kamel,
Xin Lee,
ter Berg,
Dong Chu -
Egan,
Ze Han,
Xin Seng.
The EV started the game in a 3-5-2 formation, whereas Grilled Birds lined up in a 2-5-3 formation. Grilled mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle, taking advantage of their divine (+8) (28) level with that tactic. Grilled had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks. After 31 minutes, Grilled's
Chu Xin Lee made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 0 - 1.
Yeoh Cheng Lai was in no condition to play on. He left the field limping after 38 minutes, with his right thigh bandaged. The player that took his place was
Chng Puay Leng. After the ball was lifted in from the left,
Chu Xin Lee was on his own in the home side's penalty area and should have scored after 39 minutes, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. The crowd chanted their encouragement as The's
João Infante Amanajás came in from the right after 40 minutes and put the ball in the net to level the score at 1 - 1. It was showtime for artist
Chan Ze Han who showed off his technical mastery when he rounded
Ján Gemer and finished with a goal to make the score 1 - 2. After 42 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for
Moey Xin Seng who increased Grilled's lead to 1 - 3. After 43 minutes of game time,
Bilal Mohammad Harun had an excellent opportunity to add to the visitors' lead, clipping a volley hooked in from the right, but
Rizvi Younes was in the right place and tipped the ball over for a corner. It was 1 - 3 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to Grilled, who controlled the ball 66 percent of the time.
At 68 minutes into the game, The's
João Infante Amanajás deftly knocked the ball home after an impressive run down the left, reducing the visitors' lead to 2 - 3. As the 75 minute mark approached, the Grilled coach decided it was time for a substitution.
Mateja Jeftić reluctantly made way for
悠太 (Yuta) 中北 (Nakakita) on the pitch. As
Mateja Jeftić exited the field,
Bhavya Panigrahi volunteered to be the new set pieces taker. Grilled's
Moey Xin Seng made it through the home team's defence on the right hand side 75 minutes into the match. After rounding the keeper, he only had to place the ball in the unguarded goal when a defender slid in and cleared the ball off the line.
Heng Dong Chu of Grilled took advantage of a mistake on the home side's right after 77 minutes which increased the away team's lead to 2 - 4.
Salah Kamel was, after 78 minutes, almost able to extend the visitors' lead with a well placed diving header after the ball had looped into the centre, but the home side's keeper
Rizvi Younes made the save. Central attacks were the recipe of the day for Grilled, as they moved the ball from the wings to the middle with startling regularity. 79 minutes into the match,
Chu Xin Lee came through the middle and almost added to his team's lead, but the shot went wide. 89 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game.
Bernie Egan gave
Vikram Mudaliar a quick hug as he left the field.
Heng Dong Chu would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise.
Cyril Künzler entered the game for Grilled as the match clock showed 89 minutes. The referee announced 2 minutes of stoppage time, giving fans a slim hope that their team could get one more attack in before this was all over. With 90 minutes played, Grilled put themselves up 2 - 5 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was
Bhavya Panigrahi. The match ends 2 - 5. Grilled claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 66 percent.
The's best player was
João Infante Amanajás.
Rizvi Younes turned in a dismal performance, however.
Chan Ze Han performed admirably for Grilled.
Bilal Mohammad Harun on the other hand, had a terrible day.