Hello MISN,
On Saturday March 1st we played game nº19 of the Winter 2007-08 Lachine indoor league, vs. Wood Gundy.
Situation has gone from bad to worse for MISN, all in a matter of days. After the 0-2 loss vs. R.R.C. burst our 1st-rank aspirations bubble two weeks ago, an even worse performance against mtlsoccer.com nailed us against the wall, with a second consecutive defeat and another scoreless performance. In fact, the match ended so badly (0-4) that I was too depressed to even write the game report.
It was urgent time this week to set the record straight.
Attendance-wise, we had the majority of our troops back. Only notable absentees were Eric (away to Costa Rica on Spring break), Nafee (away to Vancouver for 2 weeks), and Santi (family stuff). We were ready to start the game with 9 players: 7 starters and 2 substitutes.
| 1) Absent long-term: | Nafee, Eric |
| 2) Injured long-term: | Tevin, Güven |
| 3) N/A this week: | Santi, Saad, Saber |
Here was our line-up:
| Keeper: | |||
| Defense: | |||
| Offense: |
We started off prudently, with Can occupying the center striker position, ready to control the ball back to the opponent’s goal and flicking the ball to his teammates. A strategy that worked, because it didn’t take very long for us to get ahead.
Controlling the ball on the center, then switching positions to go down the left wing, Can exchanged passes with a team-mate and got close to the goal arming his left-foot. His low effort beat the keeper into the right-bottom corner of the net, and MISN went ahead. 1-0.
Minutes later, we made it 2-0. Can received the ball from Tim in the center, muscled off the charge from an opposing Wood Gundy player, and powered a hard shot high below the crossbar. The keeper got a hand to it, but the ball had enough momentum to cross the line and finish its course into the net. 2-0.
Unfortunately a little lapse in vigilance cost us a goal almost immediately. A long ball forward by the Wood Gundy defence was flicked on by their main target man, onto their left side for an arriving teammate. The Wood Gundy player didn’t think about it twice, and powered a hard left-footed shot straight into the inside of the right post. A pretty nice goal in retrospect, but our defense was a bit lax on the occasion. 2-1.
We continued pushing forward, coming close to increasing our lead. Kevin had a great opportunity as he moved from his defensive position, and slammed a hard shot over the bar, then minutes later Alex freed up on the left wing, and powered an hard instepper only inches wide. We were putting on the pressure.
Ironically, our third goal came almost from nothing. Bruno received the ball 5-6 meters past the half-line, took a few steps forward then armed an accurate left-footed shot low onto the net. The bouncing trajectory must have surprised the keeper a bit, because ball found enough space to slip inside the left post. 3-1!
Unfortunately once again, our two-goal lead was short lived. We allowed once again a Wood Gundy player to slip behind our defense, and I guess he must have gotten fouled very close to the box (the play was kinda confusing). Jan placed his wall, but it wasn’t enough: a defender made a run from far and sent a powerful low shot inside the left post. 3-2.
A few minutes before the break however, we gave ourselves a buffer zone again. With MISN pushing forward, Bardia obtained the ball inside the box, turned around to clear some space for goal but couldn’t arm his right foot. Instead, he shifted the ball to his left, and tapped towards the line. Keeper could not do much as the ball slowly crossed the line. 4-2 at half-time.
We were thus leading by two at the half, and were playing much better (compared to our previous two games) in offense. Our defense however was still making poor tactical decisions, with man-marking leaving a lot to be desired. That was going to cost us more goals unfortunately.
First, poor marking inside our box allowed a Wood Gundy player to get free, thus obtaining practically a free header: his effort was precisely inside the right post, and there was nothing Jan could do on it. 4-3.
Then, 5-10 minutes later a series of rebounds kept the ball inside our half, eventually leading to a cross by a Wood Gundy player towards the center. Jan tried to go for the punch (anticipating a striker) but completely missed the ball. It rebounded towards Bruno, who couldn’t manage a clearance, and another Wood Gundy player simply applied the tap-in finish for the equalizer. 4-4.
On yet another negative note, we had not managed to produce any significant scoring chances in the second half. Tim, Can, and Marco were making a lot of runs up & down the field trying to create space, but never managing to find room to shoot (Wood Gundy had considerably improved their defensive efforts).
Eventually though, we obtained a set piece and managed to pull ahead once again. From a free-kick position slightly towards the left, about 20m out, Alex armed a very precise inswinging shot inside the left post. Keeper was rooted to the spot, and we were up 5-4!
We had one final scare in the last minute, as our defense lost possession and allowed a Wood Gundy striker to arm a shot, but it was wide. Ref called full time.
.
5-4 final score
Scorers:
Can (2)
Bruno
Bardia
Alex
Yellow cards:
/
.
.
Overall, we can be happy about our 3 points: we needed to bounce back from our previous two games and we did. Offensively, leaving a strong central striker up front really multiplied our attacking solutions, and it’s no coincidence we obtained a lot more scoring chances today, and produced 5 goals.
However, let me say this: considering the entire match as a whole, we did not play well today. We are still making the same kinds of mistakes in defense, and continuing to concede avoidable goals. All that can be fixed, but we need to play tighter and more organized, and everyone has to make an effort. We’ll try to work on that next week.
GO MISN!!!!
-Marco-
Posted in MISN Impossible |
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