Lions end the year 2022 with a 3-0 win

It was a cold and windy Saturday for our last game of 2022. As we recently improved our games and got positive results; our senior team had good intentions to continue its winning streak. With some youngsters missing due to injury or exams we had a small squad of 12 players. We were up against Voodoo Child and their strategy was to defend first and to keep a cleansheet as long as they could.

We took most of the possession and managed to attack through our two wingers Hira-san on the left and Hugo on the right. However once the crosses came in; they were to easy for the keeper to intercept and our game became too predictable. We got a few shots on target but lacked the power and/or precision. On top, we got several corner and couldn’t convert… We did score a nice goal from a corner when Ryan was flying in the air and knocked the ball in top of the goal with a solid header. The referee blew the whistle and pointed to the middle for the goal only to see him to our horror disallow the goal 5 seconds later. On the other side Voodoo Child thought they should have got a penalty and Marcel our goalie thought he was attacked in the clash at the end of the first half.

At half time and still at 0-0, the coach highlighted that only a win will do to close the year 2022. He then asked to play more aggressive and less predictable. It worked when Peter was set up by Hira to launch a shot and this time the ball went in. We kept playing for the second goal and hardly gave away any chance to Voodoo Child. It was Peter again with a low shot which blasted through the net to make it 2-0. Masa-san who came alive in the 2nd half made some incredible runs from the back and after by passing 4 opponents he was close to the goal but saw his effort going over. Full of energy he repeated this run one more time and this time at the final stage he laid the ball off to Hira-san who  didn’t hesitate to score.

[ SIFL ] Voodoo Child 0-3 Shanghai Lions FC

Last 10 minutes we didn’t play well as too many players were chasing for own success with a goal… When the final whistle came with still left the pitch with a good and happy feeling. With this result we scored 12 goals in our last 3 games and we didn’t concede any. That’s a great way to end 2022 !

Cheers

Freek