Heroj 4 - 3 Grilled
A scorching day at
Arena Narodnih heroja, where 3961 spectators were in place for today's match.
Abel Melo Oliveira was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Arne Aziz and
Jochen Sedlatschek. The intense heat made it hard for players relying on strength or speed to shine. On the other hand, it provided perfect conditions for the more technical players. Heroj fielded:
Pavlović -
Ognjanović,
Brzaković,
Lagator,
Uzelac,
Stojaković -
Gjermeni,
Dizdarević,
Spasić -
Dakić,
Martin.
The following players had been chosen by Grilled:
Vadalà -
Lunde,
Law,
Carapaica -
田宮 (Tamiya),
Jaška,
Chuan Yong,
Tran,
Dong Chu -
Velho,
Mangoye.
It was to be a contest between two different football philosophies, since the home team started the game with a 5-3-2 formation while the visitors instead opted for 3-5-2. Grilled seemed to prefer attacking in the middle, taking advantage of their titanic (15) level with that tactic. Grilled's
Heng Dong Chu had a good first touch on the flank, but was crowded and, after a change of plan, sent the ball to
冬馬 (Toma) 田宮 (Tamiya) who somehow managed to curl the ball wide. 28 minutes had elapsed when a great chance for Heroj to take the lead after a good cross from the right found
Richard Martin alone with the keeper, but he chipped it to the wrong side of the post. After 31 minutes, the home side was awarded a penalty. The visitors protested wildly but the referee was adamant.
Richard Martin easily put the ball away to give the lead to Heroj. 1 - 0 The visitors almost came back with an equaliser 33 minutes into the match after a good combination through the middle, but when
José Luiz Velho tried to finish the attack, he couldn't get enough power on the shot to seriously challenge the keeper.
Milić Lagator of Heroj was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. Halftime score was 1 - 0. Heroj enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 58 percent of possession.
46 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game.
Heng Dong Chu gave
Kalki Parvathaneni a quick hug as he left the field.
Kalki Parvathaneni's lightning pace was too much for
Gojko Ognjanović who could only look on as the Grilled player blasted one home. 1 - 1. After a fine move down the middle
Tomo 'Hawk' Spasić nearly gave the home side a goal after 60 minutes. However the finishing shot went just wide. Heroj took the lead after 72 minutes as a result of
Richard Martin's peach of a shot from the right hand side of the box - placed beautifully in the top corner. 2 - 1. A corner kick created great disorder in the penalty area with a goal nearly scored by
Dante Tran. At last, Grilled's
Cameron Law was able to backheel the ball in. 2 - 2. Grilled had several good opportunities to take the lead, especially 76 minutes in when
José Luiz Velho came up alone against
Radojica Pavlović who managed a block. As the 89 minute mark approached, the Grilled coach decided it was time for a substitution.
Dante Tran reluctantly made way for
Dan Alstani on the pitch.
Atang Mangoye would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise.
Leonard Nguyen entered the game for Grilled as the match clock showed 89 minutes. The referee announced 2 minutes of stoppage time, giving fans a slim hope that their team could get one more attack in before this was all over. As neither team had managed to win, extra time was called. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Heroj, with 57 percent of the ball.
Bratislav Uzelac gave Heroj the lead as he successfully challenged the guests' central defenders, then slotted the ball into the bottom corner, giving the keeper no chance. 3 - 2 Grilled tied it all up, 111 minutes in, after a spectacular goal by
Kalki Parvathaneni, who miraculously broke through the home side's central defence, making it 3 - 3.
Peđa Dizdarević caused the crowd to go mental with his goal up the middle after 113 minutes. This gave Heroj the 4 - 3 lead. The match ends 4 - 3. The most dominating Heroj player was without a doubt
Edrin Gjermeni.
Milić Lagator turned in a dismal performance, however. Most important Grilled player was
Teo Chuan Yong. However,
Dan Alstani made a disastrous appearance.