Dream League Merger Cup - Round 1 results

Match 1 : Southend/Notts vs Fishguard/Cambuur

Nottsend Unounty (4-3-3): Buffon; Trippier, Gimenez, Terry, Bernat; Strootman, Pjanic, Isco; Alexis, Dybala (Verratti 70), Sturridge

Fishbuur (4-2-3-1): Ryan; Meunier, Sule, Wimmer, Gaya; Biglia, Jorginho; Berardi (Ocampos 80), Klaassen (Talisca 80), Icardi; Vietto

MATCH REPORT

One more click on the fruity and this was Fishbuur win. Both teams played similar systems - high pressing, technical football, easy on the eye - with each team lining up in a variant of a 4-3-3 (the 4-2-3-1 just having an inverted 3 in midfield).

If anything Nottsend were slightly more adventurous and I think Fishbuur's deep defensive line counted against them a tad today. Keeping the defence back and pinging the odd long ball, while a sound tactic in theory, played into the hands of a John Terry-marshalled defence today and opened up a bit of a gap between defence and midfield, which allowed Nottsend's game-changers like Alexis and Isco too much freedom.

FIshbuur did take the lead after 20 minutes; a lovely interchange between the fluid front three slipped Mauro Icardi through, leaving the otherwise impressive Terry flat-footed for a change; the lethal forward, on the back of a stunning season for Cambuur, was unselfish this time and squared for Domenico Berardi to tap home. The lead didn't last long though as Miralem Pjanic slipped away from Biglia to lash in a long-range stunner on 23 minutes. Bernat provided the pass although calling it an "assist" is perhaps a bit generous. The magic was provided by Pjanic alone.

The winner came in the 72nd minute as Isco played a gorgeous through ball inside Meunier for Alexis Sanchez, who finished smartly. A game for the purists, but someone had to win. Nottsend through to the semi finals where they will face Stockersea Ironport or Mandem Florentines.

FINAL SCORE: Nottsend 2-1 Fishbuur

Goals
Nottsend: Pjanic (Bernat), Alexis (Isco)
Fishbuur: Berardi (Icardi)

MotM: Miralem Pjanic (Nottsend). Changed the game with a stunning goal.

*****


Match 2 : Stockport/Battersea vs Fiorentina/Mandems

Stockersea Ironport (4-3-3): Jefferson; Van der Wiel, Varane, Otamendi, Rodriguez; Kondogbia, Vidal, Rakitic; Lucas, Aguero (Costa 80), Draxler (Schneiderlin 70)

Mandem Florentines (4-3-2-1): Casillas; Clyne, Pepe, Dante (Stones 65), Pasqual; Schweinsteiger, De Rossi (De Jong 65), Iniesta; Carrillo, Suarez; Zaza (Ba 65)

MATCH REPORT

This was a game where given the talent on show, you could have expected more as a spectacle, however in truth the game was a bit scrappy and congested, with a few moments of class providing the goals and entertainment, but ultimately it was Stockersea's general depth and little bit more quality out wide which won them the game.

Man Dems started the game by far the better team, seeing more of the ball and pressing the Stockersea players back. Whilst Stockersea seemed happy to sit a little deeper conceding possession and try and hit on the break with pace, however it seemed like they'd never settle, with the movement of Carrillo and Suarez off of Zaza causing a lot of problems. Man Dems were unfortunate to not be ahead twice early on, first when Carrillo got a decent chance on goal after a nice ball in from Iniesta and neat lay off by Zaza, only to rush his effort and hit it just over from 12 yards out. Zaza then forced a great save from Jefferson, getting a header onto Suarez's beautifully dinked cross.

Despite this it was Stockersea who got the break, totally against the run of play, but it was a brilliantly worked swift counter attack which began with Draxler picking up the ball in his own half and taking it 20-30 yards forward, through the middle with pace, before slipping in Lucas down the right who hits in a first time drilled cross along the floor and Aguero nips in ahead of Dante to get a firm foot on it and place it past Casillas.

This goal acted as a bit of a sucker punch for Man Dem and it took them a while to get any sort of rhythm again, whilst Stockersea starting to get on the ball more, moving it quickly again. As both teams picked their game up, both midfields very much cancelled each other out, with a similar mix of quality and balance. Overall this player into Stockersea's favour, as they needed less of the ball to really hurt Mandems, with Rakitic's eye for a pass and the pace and movement of the front 3 causing all sorts of problems going forward, whilst Mandems were struggling to break down a resilient side who were looking far more confident and fiesty after the goal, leading to them becoming frustrated.

Eventually Stockersea doubled their lead with another incisive move, Draxler this time turning Clyne inside out and keeping his composure to get his head up and pick out Rakitic, who had made a late run into the box, who went for power and gave Casillas no chance with a great finish into the roof of the net.

After this goal the intensity dropped a little, which suited Mandems and allowed them to get back on top and eventually it led to a goal, when Iniesta picked out an unmarked Suarez with a beautifully weighted pass in behind the defence. The pass also teased the keeper out, only for Suarez to beat him to it, calmly round him and slot it away.

Whilst I thought this would be game on at this point, it never really got going as hoped. Mandems were on top but reduced to long range efforts, coming close once or twice but not hugely worrying Stockersea, who could have wrapped up the win 5 minutes from time with another classic counter, only for Costa to fluff his lines when one on one with the keeper.

Overall I felt the teams were matched in the middle, with Stockersea having more quality and pace out wide, which just made them a little more dangerous and provided them with the win, despite a very good performance from Mandems.

FINAL SCORE: Stockersea Ironport Mongers Ltd 2-1 Man Dem Florentines

Goals
Stockersea: Aguero (Lucas), Rakitic (Draxler)
Mandemtinas: Suarez (Iniesta)

MotM: Julian Draxler (Stockersea) - in a game where the midfield's cancelled each other out to a degree, his pace, trickery and driving runs really scared the Mandems defence and had a big hand in both goals.

*****


Match 3 : Lions/Taiwan vs Gosport/Tenby

Taiwan Lions (4-3-3): Lodygin; Danilo, Howedes, Chiellini, Alaba; Matic, Gundogan (Calhanoglu 70), Fabregas; Sterling, Coutinho, Tevez

[Bill] Gosby (3-4-2-1): Robles; Alderweireld, San Jose, Martinez; Ivanovic, Gabi, Wanyama, Arbeloa; Wijnaldum, Tello; Kane

MATCH REPORT

This was always going to be a low-scoring affair, I felt. Ludy and Leiva have put together a sensational team which looked to press high and control the tempo, whereas RAP and Di have likewise a fantastic counter-attacking setup.

The one thing I thought might prove the difference was the fact that while the Lions insisted on pressing high, they also insisted on keeping their defence deep; I wondered if perhaps that might leave players like Wijnaldum and Tello, floating in front of the Lions defence, a bit of wriggle room. On the flipside, while I didn't think Lions would get any joy out wide it's impossible to ignore the quality Fabregas, Gundogan and Tevez bring through the middle, no matter how congested it would have become.

As it happened, the Lions struggled to break down the stubborn spine of Bill Gosby; with as many as 6 back when the full backs weren't pushed forward, Lions were frustrated and just couldn't unpick them with no real physical presence up top and no room for the wingers to exploit. Lions were clearly dominant in possession and territory, but Gosby had pace on the break and Gabi was spraying some dangerous balls forward.

Eventually, with the match still square at 0-0 after 70 mins, Ludy and Leiva made the understandable move to take the shackles off their side, bringing Calhanoglu on for Gundogan and trying to stretch things out in the final third a bit more. Unfortunately for them this left them just that little bit more exposed to the counter and Christian Tello got on the end of a great Gabi long pass after another attack broke down, and after he finally managed to break free of Matic he found himself running at the defence. He was tackled firmly by Chiellini but the ball broke loose; Wijnaldum slammed it at goal, Lodygin made a fine save but there was man-of-the-moment Harry Kane to crash home the loose ball with Howedes losing him for the vital moment.

Laiwan pressed hard but couldn't stop Gosby progressing to the next round, where they will meet the winner of Senseless Pride and Miamistoke.

FINAL SCORE: Laiwan 0-1 Gosby

Goals:
Laiwan: N/A
Gosby: Kane (Wijnaldum)

MotM: Gabi (Gosby). A top defensive display all round to frustrate Laiwan, Gabi offered an outlet for Gosby to attack and he set the move in motion that resulted in the winner.

*****


Match 4 : Shakhtar/Pride vs Basingstoke/Miami

Senseless Pride (4-2-3-1): Enyeama; Aurier, De Vrij, Koscielny, Blind; Mascherano, Toure; Robben, Eriksen (Xavi 70), Pedro; Ibrahimovic (Aubameyang 70)

Stokiami (4-3-3): Lloris; Alves, Jagielka, Zouma, Gibbs; Carvalho (Rossi 75), Ramsey (Barkley 65), Pogba; El Ghazi (Moting 65), Destro, Griezmann

MATCH REPORT

Unlike the one above, this one was always bound to be high-scoring, with neither team set up to defend and both far stronger in attack. Even so it was close with both putting out exceptional sides, and in truth on another day this could easily have been the opposite result. As it was, it was an example of excellent game management from Prideless, as they took an early lead through enterprising attacking play and then made the changes later on to soak up Stokiami pressure and pick them off on the break, keeping them at arm's length - just.

Ibra was put through by Eriksen after 12 minutes and he made no mistake after outmuscling Jagielka. Shortly afterwards it was 2-0, Robben completely outfoxing Gibbs after 15 minutes to be brought down in the box; half of Prideless' team (and Pride himself) fought over penalty duties but eventually Zlatan took over, and thumped it straight down Lloris' throat. The rebound fell kindly for Serge Aurier of all people and he prodded home.

Stokiami responded brilliantly though, and before long Griezmann had been invited down the line by Aurier and whipped in a stunning ball that was begging for El Ghazi to bundle home, and he duly did. 2-1, 18 minutes. Game on.

The match was a helter-skelter affair and Ramsey and Pogba both went close with long range strikes - Pogba vs Toure was developing into one hell of a contest and both hit the bar with mighty efforts - but the score remained the same until half time.

The match resumed its frantic end-to-end pace and Pogba brought an impossible save from Enyeama, who leapt to his feet and flung the ball out to Robben on the counter after 64 minutes. He had Gibbs on toast again and scampered towards the box, squaring for Pedro to beat Lloris. 3-1 to Prideless.

Stokiami responded by going all-out in a 4-2-4 and Prideless signalled their intent to sit back and counter by bringing on Xavi and Aubameyang; Ibrahimovic wasn't impressed at being substituted, but then he remembered that Pride - the only man Zlatan admits is better than him - was one of his co-managers, so he shut up.

Stokiami were back in with a shout when Destro managed to hold up a Barkley chipped ball; he laid it into the path of Pogba who scored one of the thunderbolts for which he's renowned. Enyeama didn't even move and the net nearly burst. 3-2, 80 minutes.

Stokiami poured forwards in search of the equaliser but it was Prideless that picked them off clinically on the break, Robben streaking clear again and dinking it over the onrushing Lloris. 4-2, 87 minutes, and game over. Pride and Marky are through to the semis to meet RAP and Di.

FINAL SCORE: Prideless 4-2 Stokiami

Goals:
Prideless: Ibrahimovic (Eriksen), Aurier (no assist), Pedro (Robben), Robben (Enyeama)
Stokiami: El Ghazi (Griezmann), Pogba (Destro)

MotM: Arjen Robben (Prideless). At his best he's absolutely unplayable, and Kieran Gibbs will be having nightmares for weeks about the Dutch gremlin.