Wesel 4 - 3 Grilled
Clear skies welcomed the spectators who had made their way to the stadium today. They fielded:
Jääskeläinen -
Mburu,
Machado -
Zygmuntowski,
Liďák,
Preussenfrey,
Milne,
Pereda -
Rondeau,
van Trier,
Weissenberg.
The following players had been selected:
Salmiņš -
Lunde,
Jeftić -
Kamel,
Chuan Yong,
ter Berg,
Mohammad Harun,
Dong Chu -
Parvathaneni,
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. Wesel mostly ignored the flanks in favor of their utopian (19) ability to attack in the middle. Oh, it's a stupendous shot on goal! A Caravaggio! A Michelangelo! A Venus on the Half Shell! 11 minutes into the match and
Jonáš Liďák has created art for the ages for Wesel, putting them ahead 1 - 0. Oh, I'm weeping. I can't stop my eyes. The referee was not popular with the home supporters after he awarded Grilled a controversial penalty after 16 minutes.
Mateja Jeftić made no mistake, leveling the score at 1 - 1.
Cas van Trier's name was chanted throughout the stadium after his goal in minute 29 following a run up the middle gave Wesel the 2 - 1 lead. The visitors didn't give in and, after 30 minutes,
Chan Ze Han got through the home side's central line of defense, rolling in the leveling goal to make it 2 - 2.
Hubert Weissenberg is making an astonishing dash. The fans are chanting his name. You can hear it reverberate around the stadium. Now a manic sprint up the middle and into the box. Oh! He's thrown open the door! He's thrown open the door, shot the ball through, and slammed the door shut on Mr. Tumnus! Wesel has taken the lead 35 minutes into the match, 3 to 2. There'll be no Turkish Delight after the match for the keeper! Wesel's
Szymon Zygmuntowski was shown a yellow card after 36 minutes for slicing down an opponent.
Coming through the middle
Kalki Parvathaneni almost scored the equalizer for Grilled after 37 minutes, but
Heikki Jääskeläinen made an excellent save, tipping the awkward swerving shot past the post. Maybe
Hektor Rondeau should join the aquatics team instead. He went down dramatically after 38 minutes, crying out with agony as he fell. The referee was not impressed, though, and showed him a yellow for diving. Grilled got a chance to level the scores in minute 39 as
Kalki Parvathaneni suddenly found himself free with only the keeper to beat, but the finish hit the bar. The teams went for the halftime break at 3 - 2. 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. After 69 minutes, Grilled were awarded a free kick. Rather than shooting straight at goal, the kicker went for an indirect variant which seemed to take his teammates a bit by surprise.
Chan Ze Han did manage a finish, but from an awkward position, sending the ball out of bounds. The home team will be cursing
Chan Ze Han for weeks; he finished off a great pass from the left, knocking it past the keeper without a problem 73 minutes in. It's anyone's game now! 3 - 3. With the clock showing 75 minutes, the fourth official held up the substitution board.
Mateja Jeftić looked to see that it was his number in red, so he made his way over to the sideline and swapped out for
Bhavya Panigrahi, though he would have liked to continue.
Mateja Jeftić was coming off, and had taken his last free kick for the day. That meant
Bhavya Panigrahi got the chance to showcase his dead ball skills. After 76 minutes, Wesel began to show their lack of experience and they threatened to wilt under the heavy pressure from their opposition. After more pushing and shoving than a pack of helicopter moms trying to get the last appointment for their snowflakes to see the Easter Bunny, Wesel's
Fabricio Pereda finally got himself booked for a foul. 80 minutes into the match, the referee signaled for a Grilled substitution.
Vikram Mudaliar came on for
Moey Xin Seng. As the captain was no longer on the field,
Chan Ze Han took over the role for Grilled. 80 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game.
Heng Dong Chu gave
吴 (Wu) 敬龙 (Jinglong) a quick hug as he left the field. Down the middle came
Kalki Parvathaneni, making a fantastic play that nearly saw Grilled take the lead after 81 minutes, but
Heikki Jääskeläinen preserved the tie.
Bilal Mohammad Harun let loose a good shot after 83 minutes, coming in on a fine move from the left, but the ball went wide. The players were tired, but when the referee announced that there would be 2 minutes of added time, they welcomed the extra opportunity to make an impact. The visitors' central defense should have had no trouble clearing the pass to
Hubert Weissenberg, but the Wesel player managed to shrug them off and fire a low shot that 5-holed the keeper to give his team the lead. 4 - 3! The match ends 4 - 3. Looks like Nate Silver was right again - his prediction that Grilled would have 64 percent possession in this half was spot on!
Wesel's best player was
Kit Milne. Speaking of stinking up the place,
Szymon Zygmuntowski sure smelled like the bottom of Batman's shoe after a night of crimefighting in Gotham.
Chan Ze Han performed admirably for Grilled. Even six year old fans were wincing at the poor play by
Bhavya Panigrahi today.