Grilled 2 - 3 The Lions
38874 spectators arrived at
The Cooking Pot, where weather conditions were pretty good for football.
Evangelino Wong was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Miljan 'Kaiju nº 8' Damjanović and
Benoît Ayache. Grilled fielded:
Germanakos -
Panigrahi,
Hutter -
Ferzan,
Kwang Tse,
Keng Chuan,
An Keng,
Baena -
Mohammad Harun,
Ze Han,
Xin Seng.
The Lions's starters:
Zariņš -
Azulão,
Schaul,
Cuculov,
Tournebize,
Branchitta -
Al-Fazary,
Holtzem -
Khasawneh,
Yalán,
Holoubek.
The teams had chosen different formations for the match. Home team Grilled Birds went for 2-5-3 while Merlion F.C. has decided to play a 5-2-3 lineup. For their match strategy, The Lions had decided to use their divine (+5) (25) ability to counter-attack whenever possible.
Chan Ze Han gave Grilled the lead with a beautiful free kick after 25 minutes. 1 - 0! The Lions's counterattacks created a good chance for
Erik Holoubek on the right after 31 minutes, but he could only look on with dismay as his strike rebounded off the crossbar. A crazy pass by
Christian Schaul towards his own keeper almost caused a goal for Grilled, but
Bilal Mohammad Harun didn't get the finish right.
With 37 minutes gone, a long pass from the defence of The Lions resulted in a counterattack that set
Pierre-Charles Tournebize free through the middle, but the keeper made a spectacular diving save. 1 - 0 was the score after the first half. Possession in this half belonged to Grilled, who controlled the ball 71 percent of the time.
After 56 minutes, a well-worked counterattack by The Lions on the right presented an easy opportunity in front of the goal that was duly converted by
Mazin Nabil Al-Fazary to make it 1 - 1.
Moey Xin Seng would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise.
Kalki Parvathaneni entered the game for Grilled as the match clock showed 70 minutes. 80 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game.
Bhavya Panigrahi gave
Gilbert Webb a quick hug as he left the field. After 80 minutes, the Grilled coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving
Bilal Mohammad Harun off the field.
Gandhik Chitre took his place. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 82 minutes allowed
Leonidas Yalán to score for The Lions. The scoreboard now read 1 - 2. The goal to make it 1 - 3 was scored by
Erik Holoubek after 84 minutes, following an opportunistic counterattack down the middle by The Lions.
Chia Kwang Tse went down after twisting his right ankle in minute 86, but was able to continue the match none the less. Given a free kick close to the byline, Grilled tried a move that loyal fans may recognise from training. A pass to the side pulled the defence out of position which let
Aw Keng Chuan slip through on goal. He didn't have to break his stride, and slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 2 - 3, 87 minutes into the game. With 88 minutes played,
Massimo Branchitta of The Lions fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. 89 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a The Lions substitution.
Mohd Firdaus Mohd Rahimi came on for
Adaílton Azulão. As the 89 minute mark approached, the The Lions coach decided it was time for a substitution.
Massimo Branchitta reluctantly made way for
Jonathan Bloquet on the pitch.
Pierre-Charles Tournebize would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise.
Wan Jin Ah entered the game for The Lions as the match clock showed 89 minutes.
Pierre-Charles Tournebize was coming off, and had placed his last free kick for the day. That meant that
Christian Schaul got the chance to showcase his dead ball skills. It was announced by the referee that he estimated stoppage time to be around 2 minutes. This meant there could still be an extra attack or two left in the match! The match ends 2 - 3. Grilled had most of the ball, with 71 percent of possession.
Grilled's best player was
Chan Ze Han.
Damian Hutter on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important The Lions player was
Leonidas Yalán. However,
Wan Jin Ah made a disastrous appearance.