flops 2 - 7 Grilled
25309 spectators had come to
Tarpots Rec. this cloudy day.
Girkantas Lapis was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Erik Kumpulainen and
Páll Daníelsson. The match took place on neutral ground. flops's lineup was:
Rosário -
Stefančič,
Angel -
Ascher,
Schütte,
Henni,
Öztan,
Zrost -
Schüler,
Mokhtar,
Batin.
The following players had been chosen by Grilled:
Salmiņš -
Panigrahi,
Carapaica -
Kannan,
Chuan Yong,
Mohammad Harun,
Ze Han,
Parvathaneni -
Mazhud,
Mudaliar,
Xin Lee.
As the teams prepared to start the match, they both lined up in a 2-5-3 formation. A free kick aimed at the keeper's far post almost gave Grilled the lead 6 minutes in, but the ball just wasn't able to squirm its way through the defensive wall. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Grilled's
Vikram Mudaliar after 14 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 0 - 1 lead. After 25 minutes, a mistake by the home side's left defence allowed
Kalki Parvathaneni to get through. He outclassed the home side's keeper, adding another goal for the visitors. 0 - 2.
Chu Xin Lee came close to extending the visitors' lead when he found himself completely unmarked in front of the goal after a pass through the middle. He tried to lift the ball over
Nani Rosário but overcooked it and hit the bar instead.
Amani Mokhtar finished off the counterattack of flops from the left rather easily, making the score 1 - 2. The look on
Bilal Mohammad Harun in minute 33 said it all: Not again. With his right thigh tightly bandaged, he had to leave the match for the day. The player that took his place was
Salah Kamel. After 34 minutes of play,
Vito Stefančič evened things up for flops with an impressive goal coming up the middle. 2 - 2. Grilled took the lead 35 minutes into the game, making the score 2 - 3 after some elegant movement down the middle.
Chu Xin Lee was the scorer. It was 2 - 3 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to Grilled, who controlled the ball 63 percent of the time.
After 46 minutes, the Grilled coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving
Kalki Parvathaneni off the field.
Heng Dong Chu took his place. Grilled's
Shekar Kannan had a good first touch on the flank, but was crowded and, after a change of plan, sent the ball to
Salah Kamel who somehow managed to curl the ball wide. 62 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 2 - 4 as
Teo Chuan Yong finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. After 73 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for
Salah Kamel who increased Grilled's lead to 2 - 5.
Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 73 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead.
José Luiz Velho was the replacement. A drive down the left side allowed
Chu Xin Lee to get in close and score another goal for Grilled after 75 minutes, taking the score to 2 - 6. After 80 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave
José Luiz Velho a chance to increase the lead for Grilled, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 2 - 7. Had it not been for one of the home defenders,
Vikram Mudaliar would have put Grilled up another goal 81 minutes into the match with his audacious lob from the right wing. 83 minutes in, Grilled's
José Luiz Velho received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. A slight injury to his left calf muscle meant
Mark Schüler had to leave the match early. It happened after 84 minutes.
Carmelo Virtuani had already been warming up, and came on for
Mark Schüler. The referee decided to let play continue for an additional 4 minutes beyond the regular 90 minutes. The match ends 2 - 7. Grilled claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 62 percent.
The most dominating flops player was without a doubt
Amani Mokhtar. However,
Laurin Étienne Zrost made a disastrous appearance.
Chu Xin Lee performed admirably for Grilled.
Shekar Kannan on the other hand, had a terrible day.