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Hamburg
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3
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Max
F (2), Yuki
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Villareal
|
3
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Jan,
Bernardo
(2)
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This match was a contest between the number 1 and
number 2 in the league after Match Day 1, with Hamburg
taking the first match between the two by a score
of 4-1.
The
game started quickly with players on both sides
fighting for every ball, however, Jan put the Villareal
team into an early lead with a long-range shot that
skidded along the wet surface into the bottom corner
to the right of Glenn. Within 5 minutes, Bernardo
put his team further ahead when he scored a beautiful
goal after completing a fantastic 1-2 with Jan that
took three Hamburg players out of the game, allowing
Bernardo to slip the ball past the keeper. Villareal
then took a well-deserved 3-0 lead after Jan was
fouled by Alec 15 yards out. From the free-kick
which rebounded off the keeper, Bernardo coolly
slotted the ball into the net. So at half-time it
was 3-0 for Villareal and Hamburg looked beaten...
The
second half started with Hamburg applying pressure
from all points of the field and they were quickly
rewarded when Glenn launched a long ball for the
flying Max F, who made no mistake as he ran the
ball from the halfway line to calmly put the ball
out of the reach of Sven. Hamburg seemed to build
on that goal, and they were rewarded once again
with some good work down the left side by Soma,
who beat two defenders and then took a shot at net
that was slightly touched on by Max F, beating Sven
at the near post to make the score 3-2. A comeback
seemed possible but time was running out. With less
then 3 minutes remaining, it looked as though Villareal
were going to secure the 3 points as Jan took a
thunderous shot that was going into the corner of
the net, but out of nowhere Glenn flew out and made
an amazing fingertip save preserving the one goal
deficit. Urged on by the save Hamburg quickly worked
the ball up the field and with time running out,
Max Fisher put Yuki through on goal alone against
Sven. Sven quickly came out of the net to challenge
Yuki, however Yuki kept a cool head and made no
mistake from 5 yards out putting the ball along
the ground into the far corner and thus completing
a fantastic comeback from 3 down at half time.
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Chelsea
|
2
|
Johnathan,
Lars
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Hamburg
|
0
|
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As the weather continued to deteriorate, the second
match of the day got underway. With Hamburg eager
to improve on their terrible end to the last match
they started off strongly, taking the ball deep
into Chelsea's zone on numerous occasions, only
to see Thorben make a save or for Johnathan to come
across the mouth of the goal to take away two scoring
chances for Max F and one from Yuki. Hamburg should
have been ahead by at least three goals, but they
could not find the back of the net. Midway through
the first half Yuki was put through one on one against
Thorben who threw his body in the way of the ball
making a great save to preserve the 0-0 scoreline.
Kevin proved to be the hardest worker in the midfield
for Chelsea as he seemed to be everywhere fighting
for the ball. The first half was also a highlight
for Alec to show his tackling ability, as he slide
tackled Lars on two different occasions, stealing
the ball on both. However, Alec was penalized on
one occasion for a tackle on Lars, resulting in
a free-kick 12 yards out, but luckily for Alec,
Johnathan drove the ball into the wall, so no harm
done. The first half ended 0-0 but was nevertheless
very exciting.
It
seemed as though someone had lit a fire under Chelsea,
as they applied pressure from the onset of the second
half. Only a great save from Glenn preserved the
0-0 score line, as Lars dribbled through two Hamburg
defenders to find himself alone in front of goal.
However, Glenn was equal to the task and saved superbly.
As Chelsea continued to press for the go-ahead goal,
Alec was forced into making another slide tackle,
however he missed the ball and brought Lars down
15 yards from the goal. From what looked to be an
impossible angle, Johnathan stepped up and blasted
an amazing free kick into the far corner, which
froze Glen on his line, making the score 1-0 with
less then 5 minutes remaining. Time and time again
Hamburg pressed for an equalizer but the Chelsea
defence held tight, with both Johnathan and François
stopping them from coming through. With time ticking
down Chelsea took a quick throw-in, catching Hamburg
sleeping and Johnathan put Lars through clean on
goal and this time he made no mistake, sliding the
ball into the corner past Glenn. As the whistle
blew Chelsea celebrated their first victory of the
competition, leaving the week one leaders wondering
what they have to do to find winning ways again.
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Villareal
|
5
|
Niklas
(2), Jan (3)
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Chelsea
|
1
|
Lars
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On this day it seemed like someone had tossed the
Group 4 League upside down with two upsets already
on the day. With the weather getting worse with
every passing minute the game started with Chelsea
having the wind to their backs, which seemed to
push them forward at all times. Once again Kevin
seemed to be everywhere and with Johnathan and Francois
patrolling the back field clearing ball after ball,
it seemed as though they would be able to pull off
another upset. But this was not to be the case in
this match. Niklas put Villareal ahead midway through
the first half with a long-range shot into the wind.
With the ball getting higher as it approached the
net, Thorben could do little but wave. As the half
wound down, Chelsea began to press and Lars somehow
found room for himself to tuck the ball between
the legs of Sven. Could this be another upset in
the making?
At the beginning of the second half it was easy
to see that Villareal would use the wind to their
advantage. After three minutes Sven picked up a
rolling ball and launched a ball high into the air
which was challenged by Johnathan who misjudged
it. Taking the ball at the half-way line, Niklas
coolly slotted the ball pass a helpless Thorben
to make the score 2-1. This only seemed to make
Chelsea work harder but they could not find the
back of the net. Midway through the half, Jan decided
to take over, scoring an amazing three straight
goals for his team. First he took advantage of a
tired Chelsea team to dribble around two players
to fire into the back of the net. He then teamed
up with Niklas for a 1-2 and fired his second goal
into the top corner. His third goal was another
solo effort as he worked the ball past the last
defender and blasted the fifth and final goal of
the game. Even though the score was a deserved 5-1
for Villareal, Chelsea fought to the last minute.
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