Season 77 - Week 4

[ponzu]

The win streak is alive at 24. Strikers went dry for 3 games, then scored again.

Win 22: Home League game, 1:0. All wins have been hard fought since the strikers' production dried up. 3:0, 5:0, 7:0 wins are but a distant memory. Curiously, the GK has started allowing goals at the same time STs stopped scoring, so we are getting burned at both ends. Most goals against have been from set pieces: CKs and FKs. This was the first of three back-to-back-to-back league games against strong opponents vying for the top 4 spots. The up and coming MC Piedade scored from Monasterski early and we basically hung on to the lead for the rest of the game. Star MC Pinheiro grabbed a second YC and had to sit out the next big match. MOM honors for the DC Zeciri underscored the importance of good defence in the absence of goal production by the forward line, which stayed quiet for the second game in a row.

Win 23: Away League game, 2-1. Playing one of the few teams that outrates us in the league, we were encouraged by the recent signs of their marked slump. Win one draw and four losses in their last five league contests, they plummeted from the 2nd place early in the season and as high as 3rd yesterday, to the 6th as of this writing. We were happy to hand them one of those defeats. Playing for a generous monetary reward as much as for pride, veteran AMR Willemse and the promising MC Stehlik scored early, but the opponents responded before halftime. Pressing high and making key substitutes to bring in fresh troops we just managed to hang on to the minimal lead.

Win 24: Home CL game, 3:2. Playing against the second best team in the group we would have settled for a draw, but a loss by two goals or more would have made us finish second and resulted in a tougher next round draw. Well aware of the stakes, ST Kara found his scoring touch early, treating the fans to a convincing reenactment of the Red Sea parting in a play where the opposing defenders run parallel and away from the onrushing forward. I am sure the sight made the opposing manager, who looked on, cringe. Fortunately, there was no dreaded passback, and Kara, whose slump had run up to 5 games, incidentally, the number of goals he had scored in his last productive outing, finished with ease. Elated, he immediately made a defensive mistake and earned a YC, the opposition converting the ensuing FK. MC Stehlik continued to impress, scoring a beauty, his effort backed up by AML Coronel, who, too, scored before the halftime break. Rearranging their ranks for more offense, the opposition scored halfway through the second from a CK to bring the score to within one, but not enough to disrupt our impressive win streak or challenge our dominance of the group.