Season 77 - Week 4

[ponzu]

Orange Roughies are hobbling rather than cruising towards the finish line. All of a sudden the wins are getting scrappier and draws are cropping up. Still, just one loss on the season, which by all measures continue to be a fairy-tale. Let's hope it's not a Brothers Grimm.

Win 35: Home League match, 4-0. An easier than expected win over a decent opponent. AML Coronel and DC Zeciri scored, and Monasterski caught some of his old "Monster" form with two plus an assist.

Draw 2: Away League match, 1-1. First of two games in one day against the same opponent, who is fighting for a Top-4 spot in the league and also is our CL 1/4F tie.The home side scored first from a CK. We have been noticing a lot of goals conceded from set pieces as of late, and also a lack of production for our side in those situations. Something for the management to take very seriously. It took most of the rest of the game and some desperate subs and tactics for Monasterski to score the equalizer. His once partner and rival ST Kara has been quiet as of late, resulting in being benched more often than not. First place lead cut to 8 points and does not look insurmountable by any stretch of imagination.

Win 36: Home CL match, 3-2. Playing the same opponent back-to-back, we beefed up our defensive line and built on the commanding 2-0 lead after the first leg. ML Orue, former Brazilian kid wonder MC Pinheiro and the new DR Asulin scored, all assisted but the re-energized Monasterski. GK Dudic looked slightly shaky for a second outing in a row, but continued to be the go-to man, as his backup is a young, slow-learning Academy product with a 1% rating.

Win 37: Home League match, 3-2. Taking the field for the third time in one day, this time against another strong league contender, we twice failed to protect the lead after goals by Monasterski (who has regained the club's scoring lead) and DC Zeciri, who keeps finding his name on the score sheet as of late, and this time earned the MOM honors to boot. Finally, MR Willemse scored what proved to be the winner. Monasterski had an assist, and GK Dudic continued to struggle. Top rated ST Kara remained benched and his name has been injected into the transfer rumor mill.

Draw 3: Cup Home match, 1-1. Perhaps approaching this tie against an evenly matched opponent with an overly defensive mindset, we only managed to produce one goal late in the first half, thanks to the combined efforts of AML Coronel and AMR Willemse who assisted. Playing for possession, we stayed quiet the rest of the night, but still managed to earn a YC halfway, the opposition converting the ensuing FK. A definite disappointment, the result will force us to be much more aggressive in the return match. The so far flawless Cup, one third of a near perfect season, is now on the line.

Win 38: Away CL match, 2-0. A much needed pick-me-up after a setback suffered in Cup play. The two top scorers ST Monasterski and MR Willemse produced a goal apiece. ST Kara was pulled and, minutes later, reintroduced into the transfer market, where he has so far garnered little interest.

Draw 4: Away League match, 1-1. AML Coronel scored for our side, but the defense failed to contain the opposition, who drove in an equalizer, robbing us of two points. By a stroke of good fortune, instead of seeing our league lead shrink to six points, we saw it increased to nine when the second place team suffered a rare loss. On the downside, we once again failed to convert any of the FK or CKs.