LeafAttentive 1 - 4 Grilled
Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 5887 at
LeafAttentive Arena today.
Emanuel Houben was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Gernot Huwyler and
Radovan Mrkvica. The following players had been chosen by LeafAttentive:
Guyuk -
Raykov,
Ibn Turk,
Tabin,
勇新 (Yongxin) -
Menchev,
Rogelboeck,
Púrvanov,
Sarveshwaran -
Beck,
Surengiin.
Grilled's lineup was:
Salmiņš -
Panigrahi,
Webb -
Mangoye,
Lunde,
Chuan Yong,
Carapaica,
Velho -
Xin Lee,
Mudaliar,
Parvathaneni.
The teams had chosen different formations for the match. Home team LeafAttentive went for 4-4-2 while Grilled Birds has decided to play a 2-5-3 lineup. Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of LeafAttentive, taking advantage of their supernatural (14) level with that tactic. Grilled used their divine (+1) (21) ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the pitch, rather than on the wings. Many thought
Tobias Beck ought to have been awarded a penalty 40 minutes into the game, as he went down trying to dribble around
Jānis Salmiņš after a determined run through the middle. Good work by the LeafAttentive defensive line after 42 minutes produced a good counterattack chance, which cut elegantly down the middle of the pitch and found
Hristo Púrvanov alone in front of the goal, but his shot whistled just wide. The head of
Chu Xin Lee connected with a corner kick after 43 minutes, and the ball ended up with
Teo Chuan Yong of Grilled who blasted the ball into the net, making the score 0 - 1. Grilled increased their lead after 44 minutes when
Chu Xin Lee broke through on the right, upping the score to 0 - 2, much to the home crowd's dismay. Grilled's
Chu Xin Lee made it through the home team's defence on the right hand side 44 minutes into the match. After rounding the keeper, he only had to place the ball in the unguarded goal when a defender slid in and cleared the ball off the line. 0 - 2 was the halftime score. Grilled had most of the ball, with 57 percent of possession.
After 70 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave
Vikram Mudaliar a chance to increase the lead for Grilled, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 0 - 3. After 76 minutes, the defensive line of LeafAttentive created a counterattack through the middle that gave
Hristo Púrvanov a good look at the goal, but his shot glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. At 79 minutes into the game, LeafAttentive's
Gerel Surengiin deftly knocked the ball home after an impressive run down the left, reducing the visitors' lead to 1 - 3.
Atang Mangoye almost caused an own goal when he foolishly sent the ball towards his own goalie, but at the last minute one of his teammates managed to stop the ball.
José Luiz Velho received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 83 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 1 - 4. The Grilled fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. 88 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a Grilled substitution.
Mateja Jeftić came on for
Gilbert Webb. Content with how the game was proceeding, the Grilled coach let
悠太 (Yuta) 中北 (Nakakita) replace
Bhavya Panigrahi after 88 minutes. As
Bhavya Panigrahi exited the field,
Mateja Jeftić volunteered to be the new set pieces taker. The referee decided to let play continue for an additional 1 minute beyond the regular 90 minutes. The match ends 1 - 4. Possession in this half belonged to Grilled, who controlled the ball 56 percent of the time.
Most important LeafAttentive player was
Tobias Beck.
Checheg Tabin turned in a dismal performance, however. Grilled's best player was
Chu Xin Lee. However,
José Luiz Velho made a disastrous appearance.