I haven't posted match reports for a while, but just had to mention today's cup match.

When I first saw the fixture, I wasn't very concerned, even though I was away to a level 24 team, that was slightly lower quality than me (131.4 v my 132.0). His best 4 starters were all 5* where as I had 5 scouts). However, 7.5 hours later, when the match was ready to start, his team were now 134.8 quality, with 7 scouts.

He scored after 10 minutes. Then on 23, his MC got a yellow. On 33, his DC also got a yellow, and in the process, one of my strikers was carried off. I sent my reserve striker on at this point. The score was 1-0 to him at the break. One minute into the second half, my DC got a straight red, so I had to take off my sub striker to allow a sub defender to come on. On 58 minutes, his MC received a second yellow, meaning we were both down to 10 men. My MC equalised for us after 66 and 1 minute later, his DC also got a second yellow, reducing his team to 9 players. Because of the foul, my only surviving striker was carried off, leaving me with no strike force. I brought on my reserve MR, to play as an emergency striker. With time running out, my starting MR headed home from a corner, to give me a 2-1 win.

Heaven knows what sort of team I will put out for the return leg.