Lions 3 - 4 Grilled
5013 punters turned up at
Al-Qalaa Al-Safraa, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came.
David Rivas was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Ola Eden and
Adrian Klucznik. The following players took the field:
Christenson -
Quehen,
Kocijančić,
Hêran,
Hussain -
Gallifa,
Shanshal,
Abdul,
Érsek,
Vind -
Hamadamen.
They fielded:
Serpin -
奥谷 (Okuya),
Abdul Majid,
Tarin -
Parvathaneni,
Mudaliar,
Xin Seng,
Ze Han,
Davlatov -
Mottl,
Velho.
Iron Lions of Al Iraq fielded a 4-5-1 lineup. For Grilled Birds, the formation of choice was 3-5-2. Lions immediately set off using their passable skill at pressing their opponents. Grilled mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle, taking advantage of their divine level with that tactic. 6 minutes into the match and the home team took a 1 - 0 lead after breaking through on the left. The scorer for Lions was
Bedirxan Hêran. At this time in the match, Lions were using their skill at pressing to successfully stifle the game. Grilled were close to putting the equaliser away after 22 minutes as the opposing defence lost control of the ball to
José Luiz Velho in a scuffle towards the left of the goal, but in the end the ball was cleared over the dead ball line. After 23 minutes, the defensive line of Lions created a counterattack through the middle that gave
Herêm Hamadamen a good look at the goal, but his shot glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. Central attacks were the recipe of the day for Grilled, as they moved the ball from the wings to the middle with startling regularity. After 29 minutes, the visitors levelled the scores after
Moey Xin Seng made it through the middle and struck home to make it 1 - 1. After 30 minutes, Grilled's
Islom Davlatov made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 1 - 2. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 2. Grilled enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 59 percent of possession.
Islom Davlatov would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise.
Bernie Egan entered the game for Grilled as the match clock showed 46 minutes. 46 minutes into the game, Grilled wanted to bring some new energy to their game.
Mohd Jafni Abdul Majid gave
雄輝 (Yuki) 入江 (Irie) a quick hug as he left the field. A defender managed to keep the ball from crossing the goal-line after a curling shot coming in from the right from
Vikram Mudaliar after 57 minutes, and prevented Grilled from going up another goal. With a shot curled in from just outside the middle of the penalty area after 72 minutes played,
Atilla Érsek of Lions made the score 2 - 2. Grilled had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks.
Chan Ze Han came close to putting the visiting team one up 75 minutes into the match, following a solo raid down the middle, but
Sydney Christenson managed to tip the ball to a corner.
Jérémy Tarin of Grilled received a yellow card after 76 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. One of many good crosses from
Svend Vind on the wing was received and skillfully taken care of by
Juan Gallifa, who scored for Lions. 3 - 2 A lot of people in the terraces claimed the penalty resulting in Grilled's
Jérémy Tarin equaliser for 3 - 3 was a mistake by the referee. He did, however, have a very good view of the situation from his position. As the 89 minute mark approached, the Lions coach decided it was time for a substitution.
Cyril Quehen reluctantly made way for
Shaker Aziz on the pitch. With
Cyril Quehen no longer on the pitch,
Haider 'Shark' Shanshal became the new set pieces taker.
Sydney Christenson became the new Lions captain. After 89 minutes, the Lions coach made a sign to
Ahmad Abdul, who soon changed positions with
Sandro Kocijančić. 89 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a Lions substitution.
Khatib Sultan came on for
Svend Vind. The referee announced 1 minute of stoppage time, giving fans a slim hope that their team could get one more attack in before this was all over.
Vikram Mudaliar's speed is always a threat when he gets a little room to move, and 89 minutes into the match was no different as he broke free of his man to send a delightful through ball to
José Luiz Velho who knocked it in for Grilled. 3 - 4! Grilled came close to extending their lead as
Jérémy Tarin delivered a low effort on goal from the right after 89 minutes, but the angle was too narrow and the shot went harmlessly into the side netting. The match ends 3 - 4. Possession in this half belonged to Grilled, who controlled the ball 64 percent of the time.
Lions's best player was
Atilla Érsek.
Sydney Christenson on the other hand, had a terrible day.
Moey Xin Seng performed admirably for Grilled. On the other hand,
Eren Serpin's play was disheartening.