We had overcast weather free of rain at the stadium today. Starters: Salmiņš - Lunde, Jeftić - Kamel, Chuan Yong, ter Berg, Mohammad Harun, Dong Chu - Parvathaneni, Ze Han, Xin Seng.

The following players took the field: Bentzen - Bocan, Vagelli, Sher, Pigozzi, Sodenstern - Liansbergas, Olmedo Ramos - Pellegrini, Fernandez, Farías.

It was to be a contest between two different football philosophies, since the home team started the game with a 2-5-3 formation while the visitors instead opted for a 5-2-3. Grilled used their divine (+8) (28) ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the field. For their match strategy, Pincharrata had decided to use their divine (+1) (21) ability to counter-attack whenever possible. Grilled took the lead 4 minutes in, as Kalki Parvathaneni broke through on the left and put his shot just beyond the reach of the outstretched keeper, bringing the score to 1 - 0. Alois Vagelli had been given instructions to man mark Chan Ze Han. And he carried his orders out perfectly, following close, reducing the options for his mark. Big paper red cards were being held up by the opposing supporters with 7 minutes on the clock after Ruediger Sodenstern's mistimed tackle from behind. The referee only showed the Pincharrata player a yellow card though. With clinical precision, the cross from winger Salah Kamel found its way to Kalle ter Berg's head, and a screaming header gave Grilled a goal after 23 minutes played. The scoreboard read 2 - 0. Elias Bentzen was caught napping as Mateja Jeftić lifted a ball over him following a free kick, but the ball hit the bar, rebounding into the keeper's arms. After 25 minutes, a well-worked counter-attack by Pincharrata on the right gave Matías Pellegrini an easy opportunity in front of the goal. He duly converted to make it 2 - 1. Grilled players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. 29 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defense had to look on as Kalki Parvathaneni ran straight through, knocking one home to make it 3 - 1 for Grilled. The counter-attacks of Pincharrata were deadly and 31 minutes into the game, Matías Pellegrini controlled a long pass from the right flank and finished to make it 3 - 2. Halftime score was 3 - 2. Grilled set the tempo, maintaining 74 percent of possession.

47 minutes had passed when Grilled put themselves up 4 - 2 after the visiting defenders lost the ball to Chan Ze Han, who came up from the left and proceeded to easily go around the goalkeeper and knock the ball home. Sølve Lunde should probably have put his team up another goal after 48 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by Elias Bentzen kept the visitors in the game. The referee showed Pincharrata's Gastón 'Gata' Fernandez the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. 62 minutes into the match, the referee signaled for a Pincharrata substitution. Karl-Inge 'Psikopat' Sundqvist came on for Eugenio 'Pazzo' Pigozzi. The Pincharrata captaincy was handed to Víctor Olmedo Ramos. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Grilled's Teo Chuan Yong bringing the lead up to 5 - 2. 75 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game. Mateja Jeftić gave Bhavya Panigrahi a quick hug as he left the field. 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. As the 80 minute mark approached, the Grilled manager decided it was time for a substitution. Kalki Parvathaneni reluctantly made way for Vikram Mudaliar. It was announced by the fourth official that he estimated stoppage time to be around 3 minutes. This meant there could still be an extra attack or two left in the match! Grilled's Chan Ze Han saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates 90 minutes in. The goal to make it 5 - 3 was scored by Gastón 'Gata' Fernandez with 91 minutes on the clock, following an opportunistic counter-attack down the middle by Pincharrata. The match ends 5 - 3. Looks like Nate Silver was right again - his prediction that Grilled would have 75 percent possession in this half was spot on!

The most outstanding Grilled player was without a doubt Vikram Mudaliar. You can tell it was nickel beer night yesterday at the local bar because Bhavya Panigrahi seemed to stumble all over the pitch. Pincharrata's best player was Ernesto 'Tecla' Farías. Even six year old fans were wincing at the poor play by Alois Vagelli today.