Lions upset ReUnited with a 1-0 win
It was was the last game of 2023 for the senior team last saturday. Despite our loss against Japan last week, we felt we were making progress as a team and our match against ReUnited in SIFL Cup was a perfect test for us.
We had a good mix of youth & senior players and a solid game plan. The key was not to concede early in the match. In the first 25 minutes, both teams were playing attacking football and the match was a joy to watch.
Lions came close on a fast counter when Matthew was launched on the right… His speed was too fast for the ReUnited defender and he made a perfect cross to Charlie our striker… Unfortunately, he couldn’t finish it off. On the other side, ReUnited almost scored from a free kick.
The match was turned upside down when ReUnited were awarded a penalty while we thought the player was already out of play when he was fouled. Marcel our goalie was motivated to proof our right and with a fine save he stopped the penalty. However, while he had the ball in his hands the Reunited forward ran into him and injured his right shoulder! He was in too much pain and had to withdraw from the match… Luckily, Paul was around to support the team and he could replace Marcel as goalie.
In the last 10 minutes of the first half, we forgot to play and were running high on emotions.
Half time break was good for us to cool down and we made a plan for the second half. ReUnited kept playing their fast counters long balls and it was after a corner for us that they went on a fast break. Their forward went on a one vs one against Paul and we all thought he would score but Paul had other ideas as he managed in the very last moment to take the ball away from him! Super save!
With 20 minutes to go, we finally had luck on our side when a free kick from Peter was half handled by the ReUnited goalie and Nils managed the head the ball back in the box to Cameron whose miss-kick landed in front of Charles who happily put the ball in the top of the net. We almost made it 2-0 on a fast break but the ball hit the cross bar after another effort of Charlie.
Upset ReUnited got a player sent-off after he grabbed Charlie at his throat. They pushed for an equalizer and got several corners but we defended well. They came very close at the end of the match when a strike from outside our box landed on the cross bar.
After 7 minutes of added time, we were happy and relieved when the final whistle finally came.
[ SIFL Cup ] Shanghai ReUnited 0-1 Shanghai Lions FC
It was a great team performance and a deserved win after all the hard work each player and our two goalies displayed.
Great way to end 2023! Well done Lions!
Cheers
Freek