Nankatsu 8 - 0 Grilled
Weather conditions were pretty good for football today. They fielded:
Marecos -
Brljak,
Grečnas,
Hitaj -
Ungvári,
Renkevičius,
Kolašinac,
Helms,
Tezzele -
Correa,
Grahm.
Lineup:
Germanakos -
Panigrahi,
Webb -
Baena,
Mohammad Harun,
Xin Seng,
Chuan Yong,
Thach -
Ze Han,
Keng Chuan,
Mottl.
Nankatsu 14 fielded a 3-5-2 lineup. For Grilled Birds, the formation of choice was a 2-5-3. Grilled went for a narrow approach, using their utopian (19) ability to focus their attacks down the middle.
Fadri Grahm gave Nankatsu the 1 - 0 lead, as he successfully challenged the guests' central defenders, then placed the ball at the keeper's right post – what a clinical finish! Grilled's right side looked dangerous 31 minutes in, but
Aleandro Marecos made a good save on
Aw Keng Chuan's hard shot towards the top corner. Things were going from bad to worse for the visitors.
Hanas Kolašinac was able to squirm through the central defense after 38 minutes and score, bringing the lead to 2 - 0. Big paper red cards were being held up by the opposing supporters with 43 minutes on the clock after
Luis Correa's mistimed tackle from behind. The referee only showed the Nankatsu player a yellow card though. Nankatsu's
Kamilló Ungvári sent an early cross that saw the defenders caught out of position and the alert
Rūstis Renkevičius was able to pounce and roll the ball past the hapless netminder to make the score 3 - 0. Nankatsu solidified their lead at the 44 minute mark, as
Hanas Kolašinac snaked the ball through the central line of defense and finished for 4 - 0. It was 4 - 0 at the break. Looks like Nate Silver was right again - his prediction that Nankatsu would have 53 percent possession in this half was spot on!
As the 46 minute mark approached, the Grilled manager decided it was time for a substitution.
Chad Thach reluctantly made way for
Lim An Keng.
Lim An Keng was doing a great job on the wing, sending in a brilliant pass to his teammates in the middle, but
Moey Xin Seng seemed unable to profit from this excellent service. The clock read 54 minutes and things were deteriorating for the away team as Nankatsu scored another to make it 5 - 0 after a left side attack resulted in a goal for
Fadri Grahm. Cheers filled the stadium as
Luis Correa broke through the visitors' central defense to put away the 6 - 0 goal for Nankatsu. 80 minutes into the match, the referee signaled for a Grilled substitution.
Mohd Marzuki Khairul came on for
Moey Xin Seng. As the captain was no longer on the field,
Chan Ze Han took over the role for Grilled. As the match nears its end, the referee deemed it appropriate to add 2 minutes as stoppage time. Given a free kick from an impossible angle, Nankatsu went for a play that loyal fans may recognize from training. A square ball surprised the defense and let
Achille Tezzele slip through at goal. He hit it first time, making the score 7 - 0, 89 minutes into the game. A speedy charge from the left side of the field increased Nankatsu's lead to 8 - 0 as
Fadri Grahm finished it off clinically, firing the shot from a terrible angle. One, two, three goals! That completed a hattrick for
Fadri Grahm. AH! AH! AH! The match ends 8 - 0. Nankatsu had the upper hand in possession, maintaining an impressive 58 percent possession of the ball.
Fadri Grahm performed admirably for Nankatsu. You can tell it was nickel beer night yesterday at the local bar because
Pijus Grečnas seemed to stumble all over the pitch. Grilled's best player was
Chan Ze Han. Good thing
Enrique Baena isn't a horse, because he'd surely be sent to the glue factory after that performance.