It was a cloudy day at the stadium today. They fielded: Salmiņš - Panigrahi, Carapaica - Kannan, Parvathaneni, Xin Seng, Xin Lee, Kamel - Ze Han, Mudaliar, Mazhud.

Starters: Pigov - Kimmins, Debourou, Pinzenöhler - Vojnić, Eringer, Froio, Foucher, Mötsch - Rock, Kempka.

The teams had chosen different formations for the match. The home team, Grilled Birds, went for a 2-5-3, while Top Dogs FC has decided to play a 3-5-2 lineup. Grilled seemed to prefer attacking in the middle, using their divine (+6) (26) ability to great effect. It was showtime for artist Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud who demonstrated his technical mastery when he dribbled past Gerd Pinzenöhler and finished with a goal for Grilled to bring the scoreline to 1 - 0. Coming in from the right, Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud almost managed to score another goal for Grilled, but his header was kept out by the lightning fast reflexes of the visiting keeper. With 28 minutes played, Nicolas Foucher came in from the right and could have drawn the teams level, but the defenders successfully repelled the attack by Dogs. Grilled's Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud was a tricksy little hobbit and made poor Leandro Froio look like he had lost his precious. Turns out the precious was in the back of the net - 2 - 0! Grilled were determined to attack in the middle, even their wing attacks ended up coming through the center. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Grilled's Chan Ze Han bringing the lead up to 3 - 0. Grilled players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. Grilled solidified their lead at the 40 minute mark, as Chan Ze Han snaked the ball through the central line of defense and finished for 4 - 0. 4 - 0 was the halftime score. Looks like Nate Silver was right again - his prediction that Grilled would have 59 percent possession in this half was spot on!

Moey Xin Seng had a fantastic opportunity to put Grilled up another goal 54 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. Grilled's Vikram Mudaliar was shown a yellow card after 55 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Morale on the visitors' bench was greatly improved when their player Nicolas Foucher scored to make it 4 - 1 after 73 minutes, following a good pass from the right. Nicolas Foucher showed that Dogs weren't done, putting the ball in the net after an opportunistic attack from the right side 74 minutes into the game. 75 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game. Salah Kamel gave Heng Dong Chu a quick hug as he left the field. Grilled's Chu Xin Lee swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defense were able to clear the ball. With the clock showing 80 minutes, the fourth official held up the substitution board. Chu Xin Lee looked to see that it was his number in red, so he made his way over to the sideline and swapped out for Teo Chuan Yong, though he would have liked to continue. As the 80 minute mark approached, the Grilled manager decided it was time for a substitution. Douglas Carapaica reluctantly made way for Gilbert Webb. With 84 minutes played, Kalki Parvathaneni could have brought this one home for Grilled as he charged up on the left, but his hooked ball went just a bit too high. It was obvious that Grilled had instructions to attack in the middle when they directed a break on the wing into the center of the park. Things were going from bad to worse for the visitors. Kalki Parvathaneni was able to squirm through the central defense after 85 minutes and score, bringing the lead to 5 - 2. The referee decided to let play continue for an additional 2 beyond the regular 90 minutes. The match ends 5 - 2. Grilled set the tempo, maintaining 59 percent of possession.

Chan Ze Han performed admirably for Grilled. Even six year old fans were wincing at the poor play by Bhavya Panigrahi today. Most important Dogs player was Jonathan Rock. Speaking of stinking up the place, Blake Kimmins sure smelled like the bottom of Batman's shoe after a night of crimefighting in Gotham.