IFK 3 - 3 Grilled
Clouds darkened the skies at the stadium today. Lineup:
Barcelona -
Callewaert,
Łubik,
Karstais -
Thieleke,
Cartman,
Whittaker,
Turone,
Millwood -
Dabović,
Nadolski.
They fielded:
Salmiņš -
Panigrahi,
Webb -
Xin Lee,
Chuan Yong,
Mazhud,
Mohammad Harun,
Dong Chu -
Ze Han,
Mudaliar,
Xin Seng.
The teams had chosen different formations for the match. The home team, IFK Chelmsford City, went for a 3-5-2, while Grilled Birds has decided to play a 2-5-3 lineup. Grilled went for a narrow approach, using their divine (+6) (26) ability to focus their attacks down the middle. With 9 minutes of the match played, a comedy of errors by the home side gave the visitors a chance at the lead, but
Abd Hadi Taib Mazhud, after dashing down on goal from the left and finding himself with only the keeper to beat, sliced his shot horribly wide. After 17 minutes of play,
Leroy Nadolski gave the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right. The visitors'
Chu Xin Lee was alert on a play coming in from the left, evening things up at 1 - 1 after 22 minutes. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 1. Looks like Nate Silver was right again - his prediction that Grilled would have 51 percent possession in this half was spot on!
Grilled took the lead after 58 minutes making the score 1 - 2. The keeper had no chance on
Heng Dong Chu's fine volley fromleft of the net after a cross from the right. With the clock showing 65 minutes, the fourth official held up the substitution board.
Vikram Mudaliar looked to see that it was his number in red, so he made his way over to the sideline and swapped out for
Kalki Parvathaneni, though he would have liked to continue. The unexpected cross from IFK's
Guus Callewaert opened up the defense and was received by
Labud Dabović who finished it off for 2 - 2. 75 minutes into the game,
Teo Chuan Yong almost gave the visitors the lead, as he chipped a delicate lob over the keeper, but the ball glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. Some good play on the left wing created an opportunity for the visitors 79 minutes into the match, and
Chan Ze Han wasn't about to waste it. He got past the defenders and fired a shot that the keeper just missed. 2 - 3 for the visitors. 80 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game.
Chu Xin Lee gave
Salah Kamel a quick hug as he left the field. With a shot lofted in from just outside the penalty area 81 minutes in,
Guus Callewaert of IFK evened the score to 3 - 3. 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.
Andrew Barcelona looked great 83 minutes in after stopping a shot by the visitors'
Kalki Parvathaneni. The fourth official announced that there would be 2 minutes of stoppage time, giving fans a slim hope that their team could get one more attack in before this was all over. After 89 minutes, IFK's lack of experience resulted in the team's loss of their edge at the end of the game. The match ends 3 - 3. Neither team had an advantage in possession this half.
Labud Dabović performed admirably for IFK. You can tell it was nickel beer night yesterday at the local bar because
Damian Łubik seemed to stumble all over the pitch. The most outstanding Grilled player was without a doubt
Chan Ze Han. I can't remember
Gilbert Webb ever having a worse night than he just had.
