Grilled 2 - 2 Haha
77143 punters turned up at
The Cooking Pot, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came.
Astolfo Lotti was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Rastislav Omasta and
Pellegrino Marasco. The following players took the field for Grilled:
Dob -
Webb,
Panigrahi -
敬龙 (Jinglong),
Kamel,
Mohammad Harun,
Xin Lee,
Künzler -
Mudaliar,
Ze Han,
Parvathaneni.
Haha fielded:
Andino -
Viroux,
Tian Jin,
Parguiña,
Khairil Syahmi,
Ze Xin -
Corbean,
Yun Shi,
Trang -
Mazlov,
Valdayo.
Grilled Birds started the game in a 2-5-3 formation, whereas Haha lined up in a 5-3-2 formation. Grilled mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle, taking advantage of their divine (+7) (27) level with that tactic. Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for Haha on this day, taking advantage of their magical (18) level with that tactic. After a fine move down the middle
Chan Ze Han nearly gave the home side a goal after 4 minutes. However the finishing shot went just wide. After 7 minutes, it looked like Grilled had an attack coming, but
Ng Yun Shi nipped all that in the bud with a powerful tackle. After 11 minutes of play,
Bilal Mohammad Harun gave the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right.
Chu Xin Lee unleashed a swerving effort from the right that the visitors' keeper did well to tip wide.
Chu Xin Lee had a fantastic opportunity to put Grilled up another goal 21 minutes into the match after a pass through the middle set him free, but he fired just over the crossbar. A quick counter attack by Haha forced the opponent's defender to give away a freekick.
Nasrul Haq Khairil Syahmi was allowed to take it quickly by the referee, much to the dismay of the goalkeeper who wasn't prepared. 1 - 1! Halftime score was 1 - 1. Grilled claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 74 percent.
Haha had a great opportunity to score following a counterattack after 53 minutes, but
Félix Valdayo's shot from the left sailed high over the bar. Haha hit back on the counter attack 75 minutes into the game with a free kick. Initially it seemed wasted, hit wide towards the wing. But there was an idea to it - the ball was then crossed towards
Chua Ze Xin, who was waiting for it in the box. That's 1 - 2! Don't forget to thank the set pieces coach for that idea! Due to some great work on the right wing Grilled's
Vikram Mudaliar was able to even the score after 76 minutes to make the score 2 - 2. Around 77 minutes into the match,
Ng Yun Shi used his impressive physique to maintain complete control over his defensive midfield. This caused an Grilled attack to fizzle out with a whimper. 80 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game.
Gilbert Webb gave
Mateja Jeftić a quick hug as he left the field. As the 80 minute mark approached, the Grilled coach decided it was time for a substitution.
Kalki Parvathaneni reluctantly made way for
Moey Xin Seng on the pitch.
吴 (Wu) 敬龙 (Jinglong) would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise.
Heng Dong Chu entered the game for Grilled as the match clock showed 85 minutes. With
吴 (Wu) 敬龙 (Jinglong) no longer on the pitch,
Cyril Künzler became the new set pieces taker. The referee announced 1 minute of stoppage time, giving fans a slim hope that their team could get one more attack in before this was all over. Making his way up the middle 89 minutes into the match,
Vikram Mudaliar almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert
Carlos Andino blocked it to keep the score level. The match ends 2 - 2. Grilled enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 74 percent of possession.
The most dominating Grilled player was without a doubt
Chan Ze Han. However,
Bhavya Panigrahi made a disastrous appearance. Haha's best player was
Sorin-Dan Corbean. On the other hand,
Chua Ze Xin's play was disheartening.