Lions Clinch Second Spot in the SPL with Big Win Over Gremio
Lions, that’s what we call a real “Lions performance”!
In perfect football conditions, 14 fired-up Lions came prepared with a solid strategy to face league leaders Gremio. The plan worked to perfection, and we delivered our strongest game start of the season.
In just 10 minutes, we completely overwhelmed Gremio and went 2-0 up, dominating possession and movement. Honestly, it could’ve been 3 or 4 if not for a few puzzling offside calls—Kevin wasn’t shy to challenge the linesman!
Gremio clawed one back from a poorly cleared corner and a low long-range strike just before halftime, giving them a lifeline.
⚔ Second Half Drama
At the break, we regrouped knowing one more goal could seal it. Ironically, it came—courtesy of our own goal from Dave (man of the match, regardless!). Gremio celebrated wildly as if they’d just won the title… even though it was still 2-2.
But we kept our heads. Jack made a heroic clearance off the line, and then our young striker Martin (21 yo) stepped up, scoring his third goal to complete his hat-trick and hand us a crucial 3-2 win.
Yes, we celebrated. Yes, there was cold beer. And yes, we’re back in the SPL title race—now sitting 2nd, just two points behind Cowboys, who beat ERS 5-2.
[ SPL ] Gremio FC 2-3 Shanghai Lions
⚽ Match Highlights
- 🧊 Cold-blooded opening: 2 goals in 10 minutes
- ⚽ Martin scores a hat-trick
- 🚫 Jack’s big toe saves the day
- 🍺 Victory beers back on the menu!
🔍 Points to Improve
- Crosses into the box: Too many aimless ones—let’s focus on quality over quantity.
- Game management: In the final 10 minutes, we kept pushing for a 4th goal when we could’ve just passed and managed the tempo. Gremio were exhausted—we could’ve conserved energy.
Next up: the French team—and as always, we won’t need much motivation for that one 😉 (just kidding… sort of).
Let’s stay focused and keep the pressure on!
Cheers
Happy Coach Freek
