Clouds darkened the skies at the stadium today. Starters: Carneiro Santos - Angkulwattanachai, Taearah, Shearman, Triculescu, Tlaymat - Sherazi, Magister, Stappaerts, Erlikhan - Oviedo.

Lineup: Salmiņš - Panigrahi, Carapaica - Kannan, Chuan Yong, Mazhud, Xin Lee, Kamel - Ze Han, Parvathaneni, Xin Seng.

The Fighting Camels started the game in a 5-4-1 formation, whereas Grilled Birds lined up in a 2-5-3. Using their mythical (17) counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for Fighting today. Grilled clearly preferred using their divine (+5) (25) ability to attack in the middle today. Grilled took the lead 5 minutes into the game, making the score 0 - 1 after some elegant movement down the middle. Kalki Parvathaneni was the scorer. The referee showed Grilled's Teo Chuan Yong the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. After a fatal mistake from the away team's right side defense 25 minutes into the match, an alert Amnat Angkulwattanachai poked the ball past the keeper, bringing Fighting level at 1 - 1. Grilled's Chan Ze Han could have put the guests one up 26 minutes in after chasing a through ball from the right, but Ramiro Carneiro Santos was as quick as a snake, grabbing the ball from under his nose. Central attacks were the recipe of the day for Grilled, and they were successfully passing the ball from the wing into the middle at the behest of their coach. Ramiro Carneiro Santos looked great 28 minutes in after stopping a shot by the visitors' Chu Xin Lee. It was 1 - 1 at the break. 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. With 48 minutes gone, the home side took a 2 - 1 lead as Wendell Shearman raced down the right flank and casually flipped the ball into the net after a searing cross from the far side of the pitch. As the 67 minute mark approached, the Fighting manager decided it was time for a substitution. Santiago Sebastián Oviedo reluctantly made way for Przemysław Szach. Fighting's counter-attacks were lethal to the opposing defense, allowing Abdul-Muhyi Sherazi to score easily from the right side for 3 - 1. The visitors replied 79 minutes into the game, reducing the lead to 3 - 2, as Chan Ze Han dashed up the middle and chipped the ball over the home team's keeper. 80 minutes into the match, the referee signaled for a Grilled substitution. Gilbert Webb came on for Douglas Carapaica. 80 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game. Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud gave Sølve Lunde a quick hug as he left the field. Big paper red cards were being held up by the opposing supporters with 80 minutes on the clock after Salah Kamel's mistimed tackle from behind. The referee only showed the Grilled player a yellow card though. After 83 minutes, the defensive line of Fighting created a counter-attack through the middle that gave Wendell Shearman a good look at goal, but his shot glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. The players were tired, but when the referee announced that there would be 1 minutes of added time, they welcomed the extra opportunity to make an impact. With 89 minutes gone, Fighting's organization began to suffer due to a lack of experience. Grilled players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. The visitors almost came back with an equalizer 89 minutes into the match after a good combination down the middle, but Salah Kamel didn't get enough power behind the attempted finish to seriously challenge the keeper. Kalki Parvathaneni came close to leveling the score 89 minutes into the game, as he was set up with a through ball coming in from the left, but his shot hit the post. The match ends 3 - 2. Looks like Nate Silver was right again - his prediction that Grilled would have 65 percent possession in this half was spot on!

Fighting's best player was Alamir 'Rodeo' Taearah. I can't remember Przemysław Szach ever having a worse night than he just had. Most important Grilled player was Chan Ze Han. Even six year old fans were wincing at the poor play by Shekar Kannan today.