Legends Stumble Once Again vs. Marlins

Last Sunday, our legends faced off against Shanghai Marlins. With our title hopes dashed after last weekend, our objective was simple: get revenge against Marlins for our defeat in late March 2024.

Due to various reasons, we had a small squad of 13 players for the game. We were pleased that everyone showed up “almost” on time, considering many players attended the “Noche Blanca” event organized by DJSkiv the night before.

As it was extremely hot and humid, and with our limited squad, the instruction was to manage our stamina and avoid rushing every opportunity. We opted for a 4-4-2 formation to block their wings, which had troubled us in the last game.

In the early minutes of the first quarter, both teams were testing each other. The game was even, with Lions trying to play on the wings from the midfield while Marlins targeted their tall striker, Peter, for a deviation to their second fast striker. On an insignificant ball, FL took too much time to clear it. It got countered by Peter’s long legs, who then passed it to their striker on the counter. This resulted in a foul on the edge of the box, but the referee awarded them a penalty instead. Our keeper deflected the ball but not strongly enough, leading to a 0-1 for the Marlins.

Five minutes before the break, Marlins’ right back doubled up with his winger, leaving our left back alone against two opponents. This led to a low cross within our 6-yard box, which their striker promptly intercepted, making it 0-2.

In the second quarter, Marlins only had one big scoring opportunity. We, on the other hand, had several chances, but the Marlins’ keeper was vigilant.

In the third quarter, our legends thought they were back in the game after scoring the 1-2. It was a nice play from the back that quickly found Peter in the midfield open space. The second ball went to the left for Mamdouh, who immediately launched Pierre into space for a one-on-one against their keeper. Just as we thought this was our moment, our steam ran out, and Marlins scored to make it 1-3 before the end of the quarter.

In the fourth quarter, we did what we could considering that Marlins had 4 or 5 subs, while we only had 2. Compared with the first two quarters, the difference between the teams became more apparent in both physical and technical aspects. Marlins were awarded another penalty, making it 1-4 after a counter while we were pushing forward. A few minutes before the end, we reduced the score with a nice powerful header from Nicolas.

A bitter result, but let’s be honest, the better team won the match. As we’ve said many times this year, we can play well for 30 to 50 minutes but haven’t managed to do it for the full 90.

[ SPL V ] Shanghai Lions FC 2-4 Shanghai Marlins FC

Next Sunday, we’re playing SPL V Champion Japan FC. Let’s do our best and try to give them a hard time.

Cheers,
FL