Saturday was another match day in the SIFL league for us. Our opponent that day was Long Tang AFC, the team we had most difficulties against so far. The last-minute equalizer in the league and the overturned cup game were still fresh in our memories.
Since Cody was the first victim of the Chinese New Year-party schedule this year, we started with floater Sergio Parla in goal. Otherwise the starting line was made up of regular players Essien, Seb, Will and Thomas in defense, Karsten and Ronald in defensive midfield, Alex and Luismi on the wings, and Steve and Tobi as our striking force. With newcomer Xiao Liu and Robert we also had two very strong subs.
As expected Long Tang started well into the game and played way better than their position on the league table would make one think. Even though we played our usual 4-2-3-1 system quite solidy, we gave Long Tang too much space in our half, allowing them several opportunities. Especially their fast offensive player Wang Shiwei caused us trouble. However our defense remained solid and in minute 17 Karsten played a long free kick from our own half to Alex. Alex ran down the side, dribbled inside and played a smart vertical ball into the box to Steve. Steve took the ball and managed to lob it while falling over the keeper – 1-0 ReUnited. It was a game with chances on both sides now. Unluckily just minutes to half time we lost the ball while building up the game in our own half. Long Tang quickly used the open space this time and Wang Shiwei now put the ball into the net – 1-1.
After halftime we started much better into the game. From a compact defensive formation we ran our attacks and it took only 6 minutes until Steve passed the ball to Tobi, who scored his first of the day. Yet this time we did not let the game slip out of our control any more. In minute 70 Alex ran down on the right side and played a cross perfectly into the center of the box. Tobi came running full speed, jumped higher than anyone and scored a brilliant header goal. By now the game was ours. Sergio played a flawless game as a keeper, stopping every ball coming close to him. The defense was solid as usual and our midfield managed to avoid most attacks by Long Tang. Instead we created more opportunities and in minute 74 it was yet another assist by Alex (directly from the Metro train) to Steve who made the score 4-1. So while Alex topped up his assist account again, Steve and Tobi have together scored 31 (!) goals in 11 games this season by now. Long Tang’s Zheng Weizhi still managed to score one more goal for his side, however our victory was not in danger any more.
On the league table we remain second 2 points behind Lions. Next Saturday we will play the top match against them in a battle for 1st position. We are more than ready.
