Hello MISN,
On Saturday December 1st we played game nº7 of the Winter 2007-08 Lachine indoor league, vs. Ericsson.
Morale was high with MISN Impossible this week: the team was on a 2-game winning streak after the victories against Hellas and R.R.C, and despite an akward attendance and goalkeeper situation for our next game, we had managed to recruit quality last-minute substitutes to bring today’s set-up to a very respectable line-up. Our opponents for the day were Ericsson, a team with 11 points in the standings (3 wins, 2 ties and 1 loss), 30 goals scored and 21 goals conceded. Also (if I’m not mistaken), our paths had crossed in previous seasons already (in the Summer season notably) and had generally went in favor of MISN. Nonetheless, we remained on our guard.
Attendance-wise, we were in emergency-situation. Jan was out of town for work, and so was our back-up keeper (usually defender) Bruno. With Jon out injured, options were very limited on who we could call as an emergency back-up, especially because expert ex-MISN keeper Alex Piera was playing for a Div.5 team, and Johans was receiving a visit from a friend in Toronto. Nonetheless, we managed to convince Johans to lend us a hand! Also, with the Rizk brothers unavailable (Nafee suspended, Abbes injured) and Bardia away in the Dominican Republic, we called on the help of Jonny and Tim in attack, as well as Yilmaz in defense. Danny also answered present to lend a hand.
| 1) Absent long-term: | Can, Ludo |
| 2) Injured long-term: | Tevin, Alex, Jon |
| 3) N/A this week: | Jan, Bruno, Bardia |
Here was our line-up:
| Keeper: | |||
| Defense: | |||
| Offense: |
We immediately started pushing forward, well organized on the field. Our objective for this match was, obviously to score goals, but also to keep a tight check on our defenses because in the last few games we had been conceding a little too much. For the first 5-10 minutes, we had most of the ball possession and tried to find leaks in the Ericsson defense.
Danny had a few shooting attempts deflected, while Güven, Jonny, and Tim were trying to find some space to go for the shot, but the Ericsson defense was working very close together, and not leaving space for any of our players. What’s more, our opponents were always leaving one or two strikers up front and executing very fast counter-attacks which often put our defenders in awkward situations.
On one of these turnovers, one of the Ericsson strikers (which from here on out I will call “apparently-old-but-not-so-old semi-bald guy”, because of the amazing bursts of pace he possessed) eluded his marker and got through on our right flank, centered across the goal but fortunately no one was there for the finish. Their next chance however, wouldn’t be so fortunate (for us).
On yet another counter-attack, semi-bald guy got through on our right side, went to the byline and armed a hard cross toward the opposite post. Virtually, it was an almost identical play as the previous one, except this time Kevin went to intercept but the ball rebounded between him and Johans, and entered the net. Unlucky, but still 0-1.
Once again, despite we had the best of the scoring chances up to that point, we conceded the first goal. Sound familiar? No matter, we continued to press forward because the best way to answer a goal is with another goal. Receiving a pass in midfield, Marco pushed forward on the right wing and faked a deep pass to Tim, which allowed him to get through in the middle unopposed. At the end of his run our Italian wing-back toe-pointed the ball onto the first post, but the keeper saved with his foot.
Minutes later, we witnessed what was perhaps the biggest stroke of good luck (or bad luck, depending on the points of view) in a match ever: Tim didn’t get one chance, he didn’t get two chances, he got THREE chances to score on net. Through on the right side, on the first chance his right-foot shot was saved by the goalkeeper. The ensuing rebound landed on his left-foot for another shot, saved once again (by the keeper or a defender). The third rebound, onto his right foot… guess what? Saved again. It finally rebounded to Yilmaz outside the box, shot wide. WTF did we need to do to put the ball into the net today?
Minutes later: on a corner-kick for MISN, the set-piece was taken by Marco, who waited to spot the run of Danny from outside the box. Our Quebecois wing-back’s header connected well, but the hit was right onto the keeper unfortunately. What’s worse is that since our defending troops had all pushed forward, Ericsson now had a counter-attack to exploit: setting up a guy on the left, the striker’s instep shot skimmed Johans’s crossbar and went over. Close shave.
Before the half ended, Kevin had a few tries from the right wing, after he broke through from his defensive position and moved forward (some very good build-up passing by MISN to set him up, by the way), but his efforts were narrowly wide. Jonny had a few close-range attempts of his own, but being close to the goal-line his angle was very tight, which allowed the keeper / defense to parry away into corner.
The period thus ended on a 0-1 half-time score score. Once again, MISN was in control of the game but had gotten burnt on a counter-attack.
In the 2nd half we continued pounding forward, keeping a close eye on the lone striker Ericsson always left in our zone (they were essentially playing long balls to him and he was doing the flick-ons to arriving reinforcements).
Danny had another ripper shot from long range (narrowly over the bar!) before we had an absolutely golden chance to tie the game: following a good MISN move (and a lucky rebound perhaps), Tim was left all alone in front of the keeper 5 yards out, but his effort was wide off the right post with Güven completely unmarked on the right side!! Argh!
This wasn’t a time to succumb to desperation however, we knew there was a goal for us into this bloody game! Marco pushed forward from his defensive position, exchanged passes with Yilmaz, and attempted a shot upon receiving the return pass. Over the bar.
Midway through the half, our efforts were finally rewarded. Jonny put his power boots on, and scored what we may call a very nice “but de rage“: breaking through in the middle, he ran all the way from midfield sidestepping one, then two defenders, to go slightly towards the right and finishing his run off with a low shot past the keeper. 1-1!!!
Alas, our lead was short-lived. On a corner-kick for Ericsson, our strikers went to sleep and allowed an oncoming defender to get behind them, and smash a short backpass over Johans’s arms. 1-2, way too easily conceded.
Onto the other front, Güven combined with his teammates in the front line, and using his skills created some space to let a shot fly from mid-range. It hit the post and rebounded into the keeper’s arms!!! AAAARGH SO UNLUCKY!!! Unbelievable!
Eventually though, Güven was rewarded for his efforts: through on the right side, sidestepping a marker, our Turkish striker took an early shot, which was deflected by a defender and snuck inside the first post into the goal!! Fu**ing finally!! 2-2!!
However, Ericsson came back to the assault once again. Our defenders were allowing their strikers to get behind them a little too much, and the Ericsson were skilfully combining to set up one-time shots. One of these managed to free a player in front of our net, and it took the best of Johans’s skills to keep it out. The ball however was rolling… onto the post!!! Kevin was there to clear the danger, but Johans eventually neutralized the rebound. Phew!!
Alas, once again, Ericsson broke through. On our right wing, a high presence of Ericsson players forced our defenders to anticipate the possible pass, and thus leave the ball bearer free. The latter executed a penetrating pass to the right, which allowed an Ericsson striker to get through and beat Johans onto the far post. 2-3.
We weren’t going to stand for this, oh no we weren’t: at the end of a true battling match, the last word would be MISN‘s. Breaking through the Ericsson defense, Güven armed a shot, it hit the post and this time, went in!!! 3-3!!!!!!!!!!!!
Ref called full time shortly after.
.
3-3 final score
Scorers:
Güven (2)
Jonny
Yellow cards:
Eric
Marco
.
All in all, we were quite unlucky in this game. We had way more shooting chances than our opponents, but couldn’t convert most of them (we were very unlucky not to score those shots by Tim and Güven notably). Ericsson on the other hand had 5 shots on goal at most, but put it in the net 3 times. Call it a lesson in efficiency if you like, I call it a lesson in good luck charms.
On the upside, despite going one goal down on 3 separate occasions we never gave up, and always fought back to tie the game. For that, and everyone’s combined efforts in the game today, good job boys. On the other hand, today we conceded yet another 3 goals, which isn’t as bad as it sounds, because in terms of statistics we are still the 3rd-best defense of Division 2 (trust me, I checked). However I’d really enjoy it if we could keep a clean sheet once in a while.
Cya next week.
-Marco-
Posted in MISN Impossible |
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