Lions share the points with ReU in a draw

Last Saturday, we were facing winter weather conditions with a couple degrees and a cold Nothern wind blowing over Waigaoqiao. We were having a young team helped by a couple of experienced players. We were just a bit short on defenders on the day and with ReUnited having a full squad with plenty of talented players we knew we would have to work hard to get a result out of the game.

We started strong with a lot of movement and quick combinations. ReUnited seemed to be a bit shaky in the back especially when their last man slipped on the wet pitch which almost gave us a scoring opportunity. We did get scoring chances and it was a superb through ball from our captain Othmane which Cameron wisely stepped over to set Charles our striker free in the box and he blasted without any hesitation the ball in the net.

We kept pushing as our confidence was high after the goal and Cameron saw his good strike just go wide. ReUnited got a bit better in the game especially through their fast and skillful winger. They caused us a handful and it was from one of those attacks on the wing that we didn’t deal well with the cross in and let them score the equalizer to make it 1-1 draw.

At half time, we decided to correct a few things especially to play more compact as a team and leave less open space for the opponent. We started strong again after the break and got three well played counters. Matthew came closest to scoring but saw his effort being saved at the last moment by ReUnited’s goalie.

ReUnited was pushing forward and we needed a couple of excellent saves from Paul our goalie to keep us in the match. The cross bar came to our help as well one time but credit to the whole team who kept fighting like lions until the end.

After 5 minutes of extra time, we were relieved the final whistle came and we could settle for a draw.