The weather was pretty good at the stadium today for the match. They fielded: Salmiņš - Panigrahi, Webb - Chuan Yong, Xin Seng, ter Berg, Kamel, Parvathaneni - Mudaliar, Ze Han, Egan.

Lineup: Məhərrəmov - Ginger, Dumitriu, Strømberg, Rossato - Bresson, Kirmayer, Almario, Dosrius - Langnes, Pfeifer.

The teams had chosen different formations for the match. The home team, Grilled Birds, went for a 2-5-3, while Tanfite F.C. has decided to play a 4-4-2 lineup. Grilled used their divine (+7) (27) ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the field. A magical (18) level of counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of Tanfite. Chan Ze Han's name was chanted throughout the stadium after his goal in minute 21 following a run up the middle gave Grilled the 1 - 0 lead. 22 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defense had to look on as Bernie Egan ran straight through, knocking one home to make it 2 - 0 for Grilled. Big paper red cards were being held up by the opposing supporters with 24 minutes on the clock after Teo Chuan Yong's mistimed tackle from behind. The referee only showed the Grilled player a yellow card though. Always a threat, Jérémy Bresson tore past his marker and placed the ball right at the feet of the waiting Per Richard Langnes who should have easily scored for Tanfite, but the ball went wide. Grilled's Moey Xin Seng had an excellent opportunity 26 minutes in, shooting after bringing down a ball from the right, but he missed the goal by miles! The home side's Teo Chuan Yong came close to extending the lead after 27 minutes. His shot came in from the right but Kamran Məhərrəmov managed to push it wide with his fingertips. After 30 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by Vikram Mudaliar might have resulted in another goal for Grilled. However, Kamran Məhərrəmov made a spectacular save. 2 - 0 was the score after the first half. Grilled did a good job holding on to the ball, with 63 percent of possession. We'll be back after these interminable commercial messages.

Given a free kick from a ways out after 57 minutes, Grilled sent an arching ball into the penalty box. It was headed clear, but Salah Kamel was waiting just outside the area and fired it home to make it 3 - 0. Bernhard Pfeifer showed why he is feared on the counter-attack, breaking through in the middle and scoring for Tanfite after 62 minutes to make the score 3 - 1. After 70 minutes, the Grilled coach wanted to see a new face on the field, waving Kalki Parvathaneni off. 吴 (Wu) 敬龙 (Jinglong) took his place. With the clock showing 70 minutes, the fourth official held up the substitution board. Salah Kamel looked to see that it was his number in red, so he made his way over to the sideline and swapped out for Chu Xin Lee, though he would have liked to continue. Grilled had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle instead. Cheers filled the stadium as Vikram Mudaliar broke through the visitors' central defense to put away the 4 - 1 goal for Grilled. Chu Xin Lee was the first to reach the corner kick, but his header was blocked by the keeper. However, Grilled's 吴 (Wu) 敬龙 (Jinglong) managed to get ahold of the rebound and scored to make it 5 - 1. Kalle ter Berg was not content with his team's lead, and tried to extend it 80 minutes into the game after a nice run through the middle, but his shot went wide. After 81 minutes Tanfite tried to use their counter-attacking skills. Unfortunately, Radu Dumitriu's shot sailed wide after his break down the right. Tanfite breathed new life into the game with an attempt to reduce the lead after 83 minutes, but the home side's defenders cleared the ball off the line, after a long shot coming in from the left rebounded off the crossbar. The fourth official announced that there would be 2 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 - 1. Looks like Nate Silver was right again - his prediction that Grilled would have 65 percent possession in this half was spot on!

The most outstanding Grilled player was without a doubt Chan Ze Han. Good thing Teo Chuan Yong isn't a horse, because he'd surely be sent to the glue factory after that performance. Tanfite's best player was Pedder Kirmayer. Even six year old fans were wincing at the poor play by Jérémy Bresson today.