Curiosity 5 - 0 Grilled
Clear skies welcomed the 57407 spectators who had made their way to
Yagami High Sport Arena.
Petri Keisu was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Martin Bengtsson and
Gabriel Coteţ. The following players had been chosen by Curiosity:
Mestroni -
Sze Tze,
Wentowski,
Nakamura -
De Yeng,
Zahreddine,
Giangou,
Grétarsson,
Kurmaku -
August,
Hatami Nia.
Grilled's starters:
Vadalà -
Panigrahi,
Webb -
Mohammad Harun,
Thach,
Keng Chuan,
Kwang Tse,
Chu Soon -
Xin Seng,
Ze Han,
Chuan Yong.
It was to be a contest between two different football philosophies, since the home team started the game with a 3-5-2 formation while the visitors instead opted for 2-5-3. Grilled clearly preferred using their mythical (17) ability to attack in the middle. With 2 minutes gone, Curiosity had a free kick in a decent position. Despite this being a great chance for a shot, they tried a cheeky move intended to bypass the defence. However,
Ujkan Kurmaku did not manage to connect with it cleanly and the ball went out. Grilled players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. Given a free kick in a difficult position after 6 minutes, Curiosity tried a variation that they had practised in training. The kick was sent into the area just in front of the keeper. However, the defence were on their toes and allowed no space for a finish. Grilled's
Bhavya Panigrahi was shown a yellow card after 14 minutes for slicing down an opponent.
Curiosity's
Giannos Giangou has the wonderful ability to create chances out of thin air. 35 minutes into the match he bamboozled a couple of opposition defenders before sending the keeper the wrong way and sidefooting the ball home into an empty net. That totally unexpected burst of flair made it 1 - 0. Curiosity's
Mateusz Wentowski increased the lead to 2 - 0, after he saw his shot go between the legs of the advancing goalkeeper following some good play down the right wing after 36 minutes. 2 - 0 was the score after the first half. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Curiosity, with 59 percent of the ball.
As the 46 minute mark approached, the Grilled coach decided it was time for a substitution.
Chia Kwang Tse reluctantly made way for
Lim An Keng on the pitch.
Ty Nakamura increased the lead for Curiosity to 3 - 0, getting a head onto a hooked ball from the right. The ball looked to have taken a deflection on the way in, but he's claiming it! With 67 minutes played, Curiosity's well-worked indirect free kick caused havoc in the penalty area, and when the ball eventually fell to
Ingvi Grétarsson he gleefully slotted the ball home to make it 4 - 0. After 69 minutes,
Manuel August suffered a slight injury to his left calf muscle. However, it was not enough to stop him from continuing the game. 75 minutes into the game, Curiosity wanted to bring some new energy to their game.
Ziad 'Zizou' Zahreddine gave
Lars Eng a quick hug as he left the field. As
Ziad 'Zizou' Zahreddine left the field, the coach signaled to
Manuel August to be the new set pieces taker.
Falagh Hatami Nia should probably have put his team up another goal after 75 minutes after breaking through the middle, but some great goalkeeping by
Manuel Vadalà kept the visitors in the game. The referee showed Curiosity's
Ujkan Kurmaku the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Curiosity increased the lead as
Falagh Hatami Nia struck to make the score 5 - 0 after an attack from the left left him unmarked in front of the keeper. The players were tired, but when the referee announced that there would be 3 minutes of added time they, nonetheless, welcomed the extra opportunity to make an impact. The match ends 5 - 0. Possession in this half belonged to Curiosity, who controlled the ball 62 percent of the time.
Manuel August performed admirably for Curiosity.
Ang Sze Tze turned in a dismal performance, however. The most dominating Grilled player was without a doubt
Chan Ze Han. However,
Lim An Keng made a disastrous appearance.