Clear skies welcomed the 60070 spectators who had made their way to Hell chair staters. Klas Bokborg was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jim Daleng and Oscar Raimundo Pugliese.The match took place on neutral ground.A 4-5-1 alignment was the formation of choice for Paladins.Starters: Araujo - Forni, Stridskog, Ceranka, Hock Qiang - 繼銘 (Jiming), Tze Chao, Rabinat, Jaksa, Atias - Nestor.
Grilled started off with a 2-5-3 lineup.The following players had been chosen: Tian Han - Won, Meyer - Ping Shun, Prabhu, 入江 (Irie), Muthyala, Xin Seng - bin Mohd Kassim, Lee Hao, 勇航 (Yonghang).
For their match strategy, Paladins had decided to use their ability to counter-attack whenever possible.H. Araujo looked great 24 minutes into the match after stopping a shot from the middle of the penalty area from the visitors' 雄. 入江 (Irie).A well placed corner kick from W. Ping Shun was followed by N. Muthyala's hard but accurate header. The well executed routine resulted in a goal for Grilled, the score now 0 - 1.田. 勇航 (Yonghang) came close to extending the visitors' lead when he found himself completely unmarked in front of the goal after a pass through the middle. He tried to lift the ball over H. Araujo but overcooked it and hit the bar instead.Paladins were great at switching from defence to attack, and after 31 minutes, A. Hock Qiang swept through the middle on a counterattack, making the score 1 - 1.N. Tze Chao knocked one home from a counterattack down the right wing, making the score 2 - 1 after 33 minutes.Grilled had a chance to level the scores as L. Lee Hao suddenly found himself free in the middle of the box with only the keeper to beat, but he misjudged the finish, and only managed to hit the bar.Grilled's C. Meyer was shown a yellow card after 42 minutes for slicing down an opponent.Halftime score was 2 - 1.Grilled claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 66 percent.
As the match clock hit 46 minutes, Paladins regrouped to try and keep their initiative in the game. A. Forni high-fived L. Atias as they swapped positions on the team.Coming through the middle W. Ping Shun almost scored the equaliser for Grilled after 50 minutes, but H. Araujo made an excellent save, tipping the awkward curled shot past the post.L. Stridskog finished off the counterattack of Paladins from the left rather easily, making the score 3 - 1.Grilled's right side looked dangerous after 59 minutes, as N. Muthyala broke through. H. Araujo continued to stifle them, however, as he made the save look easy.Grilled certainly deserved a goal after some stunning play down the left, but C. Won just wasn't able to finish.Paladins's defence sent a ball soaring up the middle on a beautiful counterattack with 70 minutes gone, but S. Nestor's finish was met by the reaching hands of the keeper.78 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as 陳. 繼銘 (Jiming) broke through, making the score 4 - 1 for Paladins.With 85 minutes played, the Grilled coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around. R. Isufi came on, C. Meyer had to leave the fray.Grilled had most of the ball, with 64 percent of possession.
Most important Paladins player was S. Nestor.N. Tze Chao on the other hand, had a terrible day.Grilled's best player was 田. 勇航 (Yonghang) .R. Isufi turned in a dismal performance, however.The match ends 4 - 1.
