The spectators at the stadium today were in for an afternoon of sunshine. It was a very hot day and some players suffered from this, especially those relying on tough physical play or a lot of fast runs. For the technical ones, on the other hand, this was ideal conditions. They fielded: Salmiņš - Panigrahi, Webb - Xin Lee, Xin Seng, ter Berg, Mohammad Harun, Parvathaneni - Mudaliar, Ze Han, Egan.

The following players had been selected: Tocileanu - Temujin, 智超 (Zhichao), 伟良 (Weiliang), 豪江 (Haojiang) - Lhak-pa, Mantega, 宽兴 (Kuanxing) - Gyebi, Davlatov, Park.

Grilled Birds trundled out to the pitch in a 2-5-3 formation. The visitors, Karamay FC, chose to start the game with a 4-3-3 lineup. Grilled went for a narrow approach, using their divine (+8) (28) ability to focus their attacks down the middle. Using their divine (+3) (23) counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for Karamay today. Grilled's Kalle ter Berg was shown a yellow card after 9 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Karamay's defense sent a ball soaring up the middle on a beautiful counter-attack with 29 minutes gone, but Islom Davlatov's finish was met by the firm hands of the keeper. Many thought Vikram Mudaliar ought to have been awarded a penalty 33 minutes into the match, as he went down trying to beat Claudiu Tocileanu after an attack through the middle gave him the one-on-one opportunity. This was a good period for the visitors, with several opportunities to take the lead, particularly when Felix Gyebi slipped through the left defense to come up alone against Jānis Salmiņš, but the home side's keeper showed his lightning-fast reflexes. 0 - 0 was the halftime score. Grilled set the tempo, maintaining 64 percent of possession.

After a fine move down the middle Chan Ze Han nearly put the home side one up with 50 minutes played. His final touch escaped him though and the keeper smothered the ball. Some great play up the middle by Grilled led to a chance for Bilal Mohammad Harun to get the go-ahead goal with 51 minutes played, but the shot hit the crossbar. After 52 minutes, a well-worked counter-attack by Karamay on the right gave 简 (Jian) 宽兴 (Kuanxing) an easy opportunity in front of the goal. He duly converted to make it 0 - 1. After a short break 53 minutes in, Karamay seemed to change their tactical approach a bit. As the 60 minute mark approached, the Grilled manager decided it was time for a substitution. Kalki Parvathaneni reluctantly made way for Heng Dong Chu. With the clock showing 60 minutes, the fourth official held up the substitution board. Chu Xin Lee 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. Vikram Mudaliar made a superb effort after 67 minutes after a long ball through the middle, but one of the visitors' defenders got a foot in at the last second to preserve the away lead. After 72 minutes, Karamay's Felix Gyebi burst through the central defense and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 0 - 2. The Karamay coach was visibly pleased with the score so far, but still ordered a few tactical changes 72 minutes into the game. The match ends 0 - 2. Grilled did a good job holding on to the ball, with 62 percent of possession. We'll be back after these interminable commercial messages.

Grilled's top performer was clearly Chan Ze Han. I can't remember Gilbert Webb ever having a worse night than he just had. Karamay's best player was Claudiu Tocileanu. You can tell it was nickel beer night yesterday at the local bar because Acácio Mantega seemed to stumble all over the pitch.