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

Starters: Gjerde - Barizza, Hráský, 宽伟 (Kuanwei), Grant, Popović - Šramčík, Waleveld, Chiappetta - Bisazza, Cicconi.

Grilled Birds fielded a 2-5-3 lineup. For Malaysian Tigers, the formation of choice was a 5-3-2. Grilled went for a narrow approach, using their divine (+7) (27) ability to focus their attacks down the middle. Using their divine (+4) (24) counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for Pirates today. Pirates's defense sent a ball soaring up the middle on a beautiful counter-attack with 26 minutes gone, but Kurt Bisazza's finish was met by the firm hands of the keeper. With 29 minutes played, a typically brave header by Grilled's Kalle ter Berg from Teo Chuan Yong's centered ball looped just over the opposing goalkeeper's desperate reach, making the score 1 - 0. After 32 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by Bernie Egan might have resulted in another goal for Grilled. However, Jan Gjerde made a spectacular save. 1 - 0 was the halftime score. Grilled did a good job holding on to the ball, with 67 percent of possession. We'll be back after these interminable commercial messages.

Grilled players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. Gilbert Webb had a fantastic opportunity to put Grilled up another goal 47 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. Grilled's Bernie Egan saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates 58 minutes in. A foul called during a Pirates counter-attack resulted in a great chance to score, but Rudolf Šramčík's shot rattled off the post. The home side's Bhavya Panigrahi twisted a free kick home with 61 minutes played, putting Grilled ahead 2 - 0. With the clock showing 80 minutes, the fourth official held up the substitution board. Kalki Parvathaneni looked to see that it was his number in red, so he made his way over to the sideline and swapped out for 吴 (Wu) 敬龙 (Jinglong), though he would have liked to continue. 85 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game. Kalle ter Berg gave Chu Xin Lee a quick hug as he left the field. The Grilled coach was happy with the scoreline, but still wanted to change the lineup. After 89 minutes, Salah Kamel came on for Bilal Mohammad Harun. As the match nears its end, the referee deemed it appropriate to add 1 minutes as stoppage time. The match ends 2 - 0. 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 top performer was clearly Chan Ze Han. I can't remember Teo Chuan Yong ever having a worse night than he just had. Pirates's best player was Jan Gjerde. Speaking of stinking up the place, Ernesto Chiappetta sure smelled like the bottom of Batman's shoe after a night of crimefighting in Gotham.