CCP 6 - 3 Grilled
e crowd of 34717 turning up at See Mee Lan Park today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain.
Tyge Haldrup was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Mark Brandling and
Gérard Alma Tadema. A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for CCP. The following players had been chosen: Mesa - Leanza, Gneo - Musiatowicz, Yau Meng, Yew Yeng, Iancu, Stevens - Chang De, bin Mamud, bin Abu Bakar.
Grilled decided to use a 2-5-3 set up. They fielded: Kryus - 福泉 (Fuquan) , Madaini - bin Jantan, 长春 (Changchun), Shun An, Djekshenkulov, 尊文 (Zunwen) - bin Mohd Kassim, Ying Lee, 勇航 (Yonghang).
Today, CCP's strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. Grilled clearly preferred using their ability to attack in the middle. The rain made it hard for players like
田 (Tian) 勇航 (Yonghang) to show their technical control of the ball on this soggy day. CCP broke through on the left 22 minutes into the game, with
Mario Gneo firing in from an acute angle to give the home side a 1 - 0 lead. Players in CCP heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their central attacks to the wings instead. CCP's
Zulharisan bin Mamud had an excellent opportunity after 25 minutes, shooting after receiving a pass from the right hand side, but he missed the goal by miles! It was obvious that team Grilled had instructions to attack in the middle instead of on the wings. After 36 minutes, the visitors levelled the scores after
田 (Tian) 勇航 (Yonghang) made it through the middle and struck home to make it 1 - 1. Thighs bulging,
Woon Shun An charged past the weaker players, seemingly oblivious to the rain. CCP took the lead 41 minutes into the game by 2 - 1, as
Silviu Iancu elegantly received a long range pass through the middle, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar. Grilled tied it all up, 42 minutes in, after a spectacular goal by
田 (Tian) 勇航 (Yonghang) , who miraculously broke through the home side's central defence, making it 2 - 2. Grilled took the lead after 44 minutes making the score 2 - 3.
Woon Shun An placed the ball out of reach for the home side's keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. 2 - 3 was the halftime score. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by CCP, with 51 percent of the ball.
The crowd chanted their encouragement as CCP's
Soon Yew Yeng came in from the right after 55 minutes and put the ball in the net to level the score at 3 - 3. It was a bad day for the usually speedy
Chow Ying Lee. The mud seemed to slow him down. As the 60 minute mark approached, the Grilled coach decided it was time for a substitution.
卢 (lu) 尊文 (Zunwen) reluctantly made way for
Shiya Shaahee on the pitch. The visitors' central defence should have had no trouble clearing the pass to
Mario Gneo, but the CCP player managed to shrug them off and fired a low shot past the keeper to give his team the lead. 4 - 3! The visitors kept the pressure on to tie the game when, after 64 minutes,
朱 (Zhu) 长春 (Changchun) broke through the centre and found himself alone with the keeper.
Javier Mesa made a great block, though. The referee showed CCP's
Wong Chang De the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. A speedy charge from the left side of the field increased the lead of CCP to 5 - 3 as
Luigi Leanza finished it off competently, firing in from an acute angle. One of many good crosses from
Dariusz Musiatowicz on the wing was received and skillfully taken care of by
Mohd Ali bin Abu Bakar, who scored for CCP. 6 - 3 Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Grilled's
Abdul bin Jantan was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 75 minutes.
Alex Fonseca was given a chance to change things around. Content with how the game was proceeding, the CCP coach let
Ioan Diaconescu replace
Javier Mesa after 88 minutes.
Luigi Leanza left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 88 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead.
Iskandar Zulkernain bin Saidi was the replacement. CCP had most of the ball, with 51 percent of possession.
Most important CCP player was
Mohd Ali bin Abu Bakar.
Ioan Diaconescu turned in a dismal performance, however. Grilled's top performer was clearly
田 (Tian) 勇航 (Yonghang) .
Edmund Kryus on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 6 - 3.