UDNTK 1 - 4 Grilled
It had rained all day, but 40666 hardy fans still made it out to
Four Seasons Arena.
Sebastian Apostol was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Béla Valkusz and
Joosu Laas. The wet pitch made it difficult for technical or quick players to stand out. For once, the players relying on physical strength gained the upper hand. UDNTK's starters:
Barbara -
Tăsică,
Celedón -
Znyk,
Nothhaft,
Godlieb,
Burghgraaff,
Olainieks -
Carda,
Ton,
Galov.
Grilled's lineup was:
Salmiņš -
Panigrahi,
Jeftić -
Parvathaneni,
Xin Lee,
Mohammad Harun,
ter Berg,
Dong Chu -
Egan,
Ze Han,
Xin Seng.
As the teams spread out over the pitch, it became clear that they would both be using a 2-5-3 formation today. UDNTK were awarded a penalty 9 minutes into the game but
Joan Carda produced a poor shot, quite easily saved by
Jānis Salmiņš. Having taken a hard knock between his legs,
Daniel Tăsică limped off the pitch in a reduced state of dignity. He could not continue, with 21 minutes on the clock, could this prove costly for his team? The player that took his place was
Zakaria Chitinashvili. 0 - 1 was the score with 23 minutes played, after
Bilal Mohammad Harun cut through the central defence and chipped home a goal for Grilled. A drive down the left side allowed
Kalle ter Berg to get in close and score another goal for Grilled after 40 minutes, taking the score to 0 - 2. UDNTK's fans were urging them forward as they tried to get back into the game, and their vocal support was rewarded 42 minutes into the match as
Arwin Burghgraaff ran onto a beautiful ball played through the visitors' defence and slotted it past the keeper to reduce the deficit. 1 - 2. It was 1 - 2 at the break. This part of the game was a standoff between the teams in terms of possession.
Joan Carda could have scored for UDNTK with his free kick after 62 minutes, but the visitors' keeper just managed to get a hand on it. 70 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a Grilled substitution.
吴 (Wu) 敬龙 (Jinglong) came on for
Heng Dong Chu.
Kalki Parvathaneni's lightning pace was too much for
André Celedón who could only look on as the Grilled player blasted one home. 1 - 3. With 81 minutes played,
Joan Carda's free kick looked like a certain goal for UDNTK, but to his teammates' dismay, the keeper managed to tip it wide. The swift technical skills of
Andrija Galov were often too much for the tall but somewhat slow
Bilal Mohammad Harun who was humiliated after 82 minutes. He'll be breathing a huge sigh of relief after the final shot went wide.
Quincy Ton did everything he could to get one back for his UDNTK, but keeper
Jānis Salmiņš denied him with a spectacular block. The players were tired, but when the referee announced that there would be 1 minute of added time they, nonetheless, welcomed the extra opportunity to make an impact. After 89 minutes, Grilled's
Bernie Egan burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 1 - 4. The match ends 1 - 4. Possession was split evenly between the teams.
Most important UDNTK player was
Benjamin Godlieb. On the other hand,
Zakaria Chitinashvili's play was disheartening. Grilled's top performer was clearly
Chan Ze Han.
Kalki Parvathaneni turned in a dismal performance, however.