Legends start the new SPL V season 2021/2022 with a win

Last Sunday, it was our 1st league match of the new SPL V Season 2021/2022. We were facing the Shanghai English who were motivated having the 3 points “coming home”. On our side, we had a large squad of 18 players. Although not everybody was on time, the spirit before kick-off was good. The weather was also fine but the field was a bit rusty especially on the wings.

We opted for a 4-4-2 strategy and started well moving the ball around but it didn’t result in goal-scoring opportunities. England did put a solid defense and had a couple of playmakers in their squad, especially in the midfield. 0-0 after the 1st 20 minutes.

In the next 20 minutes, our play went downhill as we didn’t find solutions upfront. England started to create opportunities with long balls behind our defenders and Clement had to make an important save to keep us in the game. An unfortunate handball handed a free-kick to our opponent just outside the box… The ball went low into the left corner to give them the lead. We did get one or two chances to equalize after that but failed on the finish.

In the 3rd 20 minutes, we started to play well and control the game. As England decided to leave only one striker up-front, it gave us the opportunity to push Pat up into the midfield. We got a couple of very close penalty calls and England needed a few yellow cards to stop us. Samad was pushed forward and his effort was misjudged by England’s Goalie for the equalizer.

In the last 20 minutes, we went for the victory. Nikko received a great assist, outplayed the defenders, and scored to give us the lead 2-1. After this goal, we never lost control of the game and created a couple of more opportunities. On a cross from Kevin, our President thought he would enter Lions’ history book… as the ball was coming slightly behind him he thought he was capable to make a bicycle kick (a 1st ever in his life). Well, he tried his luck, and surprisingly hit the ball well in the air and almost made it into the goal under the hurray of the bench!

[ SPL V ] Shanghai Lions FC 2-1 Shanghai English

A really way to start the new SPL V season 2021/2022. As the clubhouse was opened for the 1st time after 1.5 years we enjoyed a couple of ice-cold beers after the game.

Cheers
Freek