Arcturules 3 - 5 Grilled
Dark skies made the crowd of 61746 at
Ballota Stadium a little nervous, but the rain held off.
José Antonio Dugarte was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Víctor Jones and
Warner Delgado. The match took place on neutral ground. Arcturules's starters:
van Weelie -
Hui Rong,
長野 (Nagano),
Dobschütz,
Hyvärinen,
Ramos -
Najdoski,
Lee Chee,
An Keong,
Chao Hao,
Jayatissa -.
Grilled's lineup was:
Germanakos -
Keng Chuan,
其材 (Qicai) -
Reddy,
Thach,
Chitre,
An Keng,
Trindade -
Teck Fu,
Kwang Tse,
Khairul.
Arcturules started the game in a 5-5-0 formation, whereas Grilled Birds lined up in a 2-5-3 formation. It was obvious that Arcturules were using their excellent (8) pressing skill as their primary tactic. Grilled mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle, taking advantage of their divine (+9) (29) level with that tactic. Grilled took the lead after 16 minutes making the score 0 - 1.
Mohd Marzuki Khairul placed the ball out of reach for the home side's keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left.
Chad Thach 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
Vito van Weelie but overcooked it and hit the bar instead. Arcturules played a good counterattacking move down the left 28 minutes into the match, with
Ray Jayatissa finishing well for 1 - 1.
元気 (Genki) 長野 (Nagano) really should have scored when he was chosen by fate to confront a wide open goal following a great play by
Yeo An Keong after a corner. The terraces were silenced after 31 minutes when Grilled's
Lim An Keng put the guests ahead 1 - 2, following an attack on the right. Arcturules pressed their opponents, causing the game to be a bit of a stalemate at times. Halftime score was 1 - 2. Grilled claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 58 percent.
With 46 minutes played, the Arcturules coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around.
Maher El Bacha came on,
Ching Lee Chee had to leave the fray. Arcturules needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 46 minutes
Yeo An Keong made way for
Choy Chee Da. Against a lesser team, Grilled could very well have succeeded with their smart indirect free kick routine after 54 minutes. A trio of passes took the ball all the way past the defenders, but by then the intended recipient was already blocked off and the keeper could make a leisurely save.
Chia Kwang Tse was, after 57 minutes, almost able to extend the visitors' lead with a well placed diving header after the ball had looped into the centre, but the home side's keeper
Vito van Weelie made the save. 58 minutes in, Arcturules's
Ray Jayatissa received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. A crazy pass by
Chad Thach towards his own keeper almost caused a goal for Arcturules, but
Ray Jayatissa didn't get the finish right.
With a shot curled in from just outside the middle of the penalty area after 71 minutes played,
Choy Chee Da of Arcturules made the score 2 - 2. One of many good crosses from
Ray Jayatissa on the wing was received and skillfully taken care of by
Ognen Najdoski, who scored for Arcturules. 3 - 2 Arcturules's ability to press all over the field frequently paid dividends. Grilled players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. With 83 minutes played, the visitors could have drawn level after
Gandhik Chitre came through the middle, but his shot went wide. Grilled had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks. Grilled tied it all up, 85 minutes in, after a spectacular goal by
Chia Kwang Tse, who miraculously broke through the home side's central defence, making it 3 - 3. As the match nears its end, the referee has deemed it appropriate to add 2 minutes as stoppage time. As neither team had managed to win, extra time was called. Grilled had most of the ball, with 61 percent of possession.
Arcturules's talent at pressing frustrated the spectators as the game became a dire midfield struggle. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Grilled's
Lim An Keng after 96 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 3 - 4 lead. Content with how the game was proceeding, the Grilled coach let
冬馬 (Toma) 田宮 (Tamiya) replace
Paulino Trindade after 96 minutes. The Grilled players could smell victory in the air.
Aw Keng Chuan wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for
Damian Hutter after 96 minutes. With
Aw Keng Chuan no longer on the pitch,
冬馬 (Toma) 田宮 (Tamiya) became the new set pieces taker. With 112 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed
Chia Kwang Tse of Grilled to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 3 - 5. The match ends 3 - 5. Arcturules's top performer was clearly
Choy Chee Da. However,
Klaus Dobschütz made a disastrous appearance. Most important Grilled player was
Hwang Teck Fu.
冬馬 (Toma) 田宮 (Tamiya) was a disappointment, however.