Dream League Season 3 - Week 3 results

SEKHUKHUNE LIONS v TENBY

Lions (3-4-2-1): Lodygin; Howedes, Gonalons, Umtiti; Danilo, Parejo, Gundogan (Veretout 60), Amavi; Anderson (Calhanoglu 80), Sterling (Fekir 70); Lacazette

Tenby (3-4-1-2): Iraizoz; Ake, San Jose, Martinez; De Marcos, Coquelin, Xavi (Allen 60), Davies; Jorginho (Djuricic 65); Hernandez (Bamford 70), Pelle

MATCH REPORT

I think this would have been a lovely match to watch. Both teams lined up with 3 at the back and wing backs; Leiva’s side boasted perhaps the bigger names throughout, with a lineup that oozes composure and class in defence and midfield especially. Di’s side is young and quick in defence and very clinical up top with a solid, hard-working spine.

Both teams set up to transition quickly from front to back; as the away side Di set up perhaps slightly more defensively with Lions looking to press more aggressively from the front and Tenby content to sit back a touch more and hit the home team fast on the break. I thought this would lead to a lot of chances at both ends, although I gave a slight edge to Lions as I thought their defence was slightly better equipped to deal with the physique of Pelle and the predatory instincts of Chicharito, whereas I thought Sterling would cause young Nathan Ake a few problems today, especially as I didn’t think Oscar de Marcos was particularly well equipped to cover both Amavi and Sterling on his own.

Both midfields showcased a nice mix of grit and guile, and I thought playing Jorginho in an advanced role was a good move by Di since it gave her midfield just a bit more muscle to cover the ageing legs of Xavi, who was therefore able to concentrate more on keeping the ball moving and less on winning it back. I actually thought they’d hold their own against Leiva’s midfield two, neither of which are especially mobile; the key factors in deciding the slot split here were Anderson/Sterling for the home side, and Jorginho’s influence for Di’s side.

The game started off quite cagily, with the home side pushing high up the pitch and probing at Tenby’s disciplined ranks. The away side were looking to hit Pelle as quickly as possible but Howedes was enjoying the physical contest and chances were at a premium in the first half, until a space opened up for Sterling down the Lions left on 36 minutes. He received the ball wide and drove at Nathan Ake, whose challenge was clumsy. Sterling burst through and laid it on a plate for Lacazette to tap home. 1-0 Lions at half time, and Ake was booked for dragging Sterling back in the lead-up to the goal although Sterling wriggled free anyway.

Lions had a golden opportunity to double their lead shortly after the break when De Marcos hauled down the dangerous Stirling inside the box and the ref pointed to the spot; Lacazette stepped up and spooned the ball over the bar. Uncharacteristically terrible finish from the Frenchman. From the resulting goal kick, Iraizoz pinged it long, Pelle won the aerial dual with Howedes and there was Chicharito nipping past the keeper to equalise. Howedes got booked for remonstrating with the linesman – it was a marginal offside call – but the goal stood. 1-1, 51 minutes.

The touch-paper had been lit and the match banged from end to end with Jorginho coming into proceedings and Joe Allen adding slightly more legs to Tenby’s midfield; Lions were looking the more likely to score with Veretout going close from range and Lacazette nodding a Danilo cross just wide. Then Leiva hauled off an exhausted Sterling on 70 minutes and the game swung back in the away side’s favour with the dangerman no longer around to terrorise them. Suddenly Djuricic drove past Veretout and through a flimsy challenge from Umtiti to drill one at goal. Lodygin palmed it out and Pelle was on hand, ready to tap in, but Jordan Veretout, charging back to cover, tripped him cynically from behind. Penalty to Tenby on 82 minutes, Veretout lucky to stay on the pitch. The much-maligned Joe Allen stepped up and coolly dispatched the penalty. 1-2 Tenby. And that’s how it stayed, Iraizoz pulling off a stunning last-minute save from a Parejo stinger and Pelle wasting a golden chance when put through by a Ben Davies long ball.

Harsh on Lions perhaps, but well done to Di’s charges.

Slots
Home 6+1
Draw 4
Away 4

FULL TIME: SEKHUKHUNE LIONS 1-2 TENBY

Goals
Lions: Lacazette (Sterling)
Tenby: Chicharito (Pelle), Allen (pen)

Cards
Lions: Veretout, Danilo, Howedes, Gundogan
Tenby: De Marcos, Ake

MotM: Raheem Sterling (Lions). Terrorised De Marcos and Ake and was very unfortunate to be on the losing side.


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MANCHESTER MANDEMS v NOTTS COUNTY

Mandems (4-2-3-1): Guaita; Clyne, Vlaar, Pepe, Maxwell; Illaramendi, Schweinsteiger; Aranguiz, Fellaini, Bonaventura (Ba 75); Suarez

Notts (4-3-3): De Gea; Lichtsteiner, Gimenez, Romagnoli, Baba Rahman; Verratti (Brahimi 70), Thiago, Isco; Alexis, Icardi, Depay

MATCH REPORT

This was a tasty clash. Trebs' Mandems played a lot of big, tough players and a workmanlike midfield, looking to be nasty and rough up the most technical side in either league, Mex's Notts County.

Trebs made some astute decisions in his setup this week - I thought Fellaini would have a good time up against the diminutive Verratti, but Mex made the right decision in pushing his defence up to nullify the practical threat the giant Belgian might pose. This did leave gaps in behind for Suarez though. Similarly Trebs noted that the left side of Mex's defence was an area to exploit with Juan Bernat injured, but in playing Aranguiz - a natural CM - on the right wing, I thought he wasted the opportunity to a degree, especially since he asked Clyne to rein in his attacking instincts to avoid being caught out by Notts' exciting attacking line.

Notts Co dominated possession but not nearly to the usual degree, due to the efforts of the ever-economical Schweinsteiger and Illaramendi in midfield, which meant that Mex's front three, starved of their usual frequent service, weren't quite so effective as usual. Similarly while Illara and Schweini saw a decent amount of the ball, I didn't think they were likely to pick that many holes in the opposition defence. This was a tight and tactical affair, with several last-ditch interceptions preventing a Fellaini flick-on reaching Suarez or stopping an Isco through-ball from reaching Alexis. Icardi unfortunately had a number done on him by the impressive Pepe today and barely had a say in proceedings.

There was just one goal to separate the teams, and as ever in a tight match like this it came through a moment of inspiration after 82 minutes. Schweinsteiger lofted one up to Fellaini who flicked it onto Suarez; this time the Uruguayan had timed his run to perfection, though he was hauled down by Lichtsteiner in the Mandems inside left channel just under 30 yards from goal. The debutant was very fortunate to stay on the pitch in all honesty, but his team were punished nonetheless as Schweinsteiger pinged the free kick into the box; Fellaini tried to control it on his chest but the ball was half cleared, and there was Asier Illaramendi who met it with an improbable volley that dipped just enough to crash in off the crossbar from 20 yards out. A stunning strike, nothing De Gea could do about it. Illara was booked for diving into the crowd to celebrate; hard to fault him after such a great goal.

Slots
Home 4+1
Draw 7
Away 6

FINAL SCORE: MANCHESTER MANDEMS 1-0 NOTTS COUNTY

Goals
Mandems: Illaramendi
Notts: N/A

Cards
Mandems: Aranguiz, Illaramendi
Notts: Alexis, Icardi, Lichtsteiner

MotM: Pepe (Mandems). Kept the shackles firmly on Icardi and - for once - his own discipline throughout.


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SHAKHTAR SENSELESS v MIAMI FUSION

Senseless (4-2-3-1): Frey; Aurier, De Vrij, Vidic, Cole; De Rossi, Toure Y; Munir, Eriksen, Januzaj (Perisic 70); Alcacer

Miami (3-4-1-2): Wellenreuther; Kyriakos, Badstuber, Caceres; Tufan, Pogba, Gomes, Willems; Vazquez (Calleri 80); Morata (Zalazar 85), Kuranyi (Berahino 70)

MATCH REPORT

Two well-matched sides I expect to see in the promotion picture. Both sides set up to negate one another to an extent, and to an extent that shaped the game; two extremely strong midfields largely cancelled one another out, with 8 bookings evidencing a gritty match, although I thought Eriksen might have a touch more joy in a loose role roaming away from the middle, whereas I thought space was at more of a premium for Miami's #10 with De Rossi putting the shackles on him centrally and the Senseless FBs able to deal with him if he drifted wide.

One major problem for Senseless is that they didn't really deal with Morata, who's definitely one of Miami's dangermen; Morata dragged De Vrij around a bit and opened up a lot of space centrally, which could have been exploited by Miami getting lots of balls into the box - aided by Marky's somewhat risky tactic of showing the wing backs down the line for the cross. Unfortunately for Fan Vidic had Kuranyi in his back pocket most of the game.

At the other end, I thought the movement of Senseless' 3 attacking midfielders would cause problems, but their insistence on driving in off their flanks played into the hands of Fan's back 3 somewhat. I think they'd have been better served stretching the pitch as wide as possible - Marky did ask his FBs to get forward on the overlap, though, and I thought Aurier would potentially provide more down the right than Cole down the left since Cole was pinned back by the marauding Morata on several occasions.

The first half was a turgid affair and things only picked up quite late on when both teams began to tire a bit. After 73 minutes, Miami took the lead - Morata dropped deep with De Vrij not sticking close enough, and he turned and ran at the defence before laying it off to Tufan who had got past Cole. The wing-back's cross was low and hard and Berahino, just off the bench, stole a yard on Vidic to bundle home.

The lead lasted almost no time at all though, and it was another sub who made the difference - Perisic charged past Kyriakos down the Senseless left on 76 minutes and thumped a cross-shot from the corner of the box. Wellenreuther could only pat the drive down for Alcacer to poke home the rebound.

The game opened up quite substantially in the closing phases with Senseless pushing hard for a winner as Miami's young substitutes struggled to match the discipline showed by the men they replaced, but the draw was the right result in the end.

Slots:
Home 5+1
Draw 7
Away 5

FINAL SCORE: SHAKHTAR SENSELESS 1-1 MIAMI FUSION

Goals
Senseless: Alcacer (Perisic)
Miami: Berahino (Tufan)

Cards
Senseless: De Vrij, Vidic, Eriksen, Munir
Miami: Wellenreuther, Calleri, Morata, Kuranyi

MotM: Alvaro Morata (Miami). Gave De Vrij a hard time in a close contest with his movement and started the move that led to the opener.


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STOCKPORT COUNTY v SC CAMBUUR LEEUWARDEN

Stockport (4-4-2): Forster; De Sciglio, Varane, Ginter, R Rodriguez; Kramer (Ings 70), Rakitic, Schneiderlin, Draxler; Costa, Aguero

Cambuur (4-2-3-1): Rico; Widmer, Sule, Samir, Guerreiro; Danilo, Romero (J Rodriguez 75); R Silva (De Arrascaeta 75), Paredes, Talisca; Carrillo

MATCH REPORT

This was a great match-up. On paper, Stockport clearly have the bigger names and the more experience, but you can't discount this Cambuur side. No matter how many times LC tears up his teamsheet and starts again he always puts out a vibrant and well balanced young side. This match looked for all the world like an England match against an unfancied team in qualification - Stockport, like England, have the bigger names and the diamond midfield, but they often struggle against quick, attacking young teams who play without fear, just like this Cambuur side.

Stockport lined up to impress themselves on the game, pushing their full backs up in quite a cavalier fashion - Park explicity said in his tactics that "LC doesn't possess a winger that particular [sic] stands out as a major threat." I thought this was a huge risk myself, as Rafa Silva and Anderson Talisca are two players that can hurt a team given the chance. At the other end, though, Costa and Aguero will cause problems against any defence, and while I rate both of Cambuur's centre halves as having boundless potential (not to mention the right attributes - pace and power - to deal with CostAguero), their inexperience counted heavily against them. As for the midfield... again, though I like Cambuur's players a great deal (as per usual LC has bought 3 players I've specifically scouted myself in the past), I think the experience and guile of Rak and Schneid would have been valuable today, though I rated Leandro Paredes' chances at giving Kramer a horrible afternoon.

In short, this was never going to be a low-scoring game, and I thought a draw was very unlikely.

Stockport raced into an early lead, Julian Draxler dinking a lovely ball over the defence for Aguero to lash home after just 3 minutes. Cambuur looked shell-shocked and Aguero doubled his side's advantage after 17 minutes, latching on to another through-ball, this time from Rakitic; the combination that proved so fruitful last season came together again as Aguero rounded Rico to slip the ball home. 2-0 Stockport.

The home side pushed forward in search of more goals and on the stroke of half time they were hit by a sucker punch. De Sciglio lost the ball high up the pitch to Guerreiro, who zipped forwards like a greyhound, releasing Talisca ahead of him. With no defender in sight he closed in on the box before laying it off to Paredes who passed the ball home from the edge of the box. A lovely counter-attacking goal to give Cambuur hope.

LC's half-time hairdryer seemed to have done the trick as Cambuur equalised after 47 minutes; this time Paredes skinned Kramer before curling a beauty against the inside of the post. The ball ran across the face of goal and there was Rafa Silva to thump home from a yard. 2-2, game on.

Cambuur smelled blood and with Stockport pushing out even further to retake the lead, Rakitic and Costa both hit the bar - the latter contriving to miss from 6 yards out although Samir's covering tackle was sublime to deflect the ball onto the woodwork. Then Cambuur drove forwards again, this time Silva catching Rodriguez out of position down the right; the Swiss recovered well to force Silva into the corner, but an outrageous piece of skill from the Portuguese winger bamboozled Rodriguez. Ginter crashing into the left back didn't help either. Silva ran along the touchline before pulling it back for Paredes to thump into the roof of the net. Stockport 2-3 Cambuur, 61 minutes.

The game somehow opened up even further now, with Park throwing Ings on for the unfortunate Kramer who'd had an awful 70 minutes. Immediately the change bore fruit, Danny Ings wriggling past Sule to get on the end of another delightful Draxler through ball; his shot was saved but the rebound fell kindly for Aguero to seal his hat trick. 3 all!

Cambuur seemed to have their belief sapped by this equaliser, and Stockport went into overload looking for the winner. But as so often happens in football, this left them open to another sucker punch. After 88 minutes, with Samir and Sule performing heroics to block further efforts from an out-of-sorts Costa and the brilliant Draxler, the ball broke for the outstanding Paredes once more. He charged forwards and released Talisca who was onside in his own half. Only Varane was back covering but Talisca had him for pace and bore down on goal; Forster cleaned him out with a superb tackle but the ball bobbled out to De Arrascaeta, who hit it first time from all of 35 yards; Varane did his best to keep it out but the ball arced over him and the stranded keeper and nestled in the onion bag. An outrageous finish to a stupendous game.

Stockport will feel hard done by - Park was apoplectic on the sideline and had to be escorted to the stands by stewards - but what an advert for Division 2.

Slots
Home 6+1
Draw 2
Away 4

FINAL SCORE: STOCKPORT COUNTY 3-4 SC CAMBUUR LEEUWARDEN

Goals
Stockport: Aguero (Draxler), Aguero (Rakitic), Aguero (Ings)
Cambuur: Paredes (Talisca), R Silva (Paredes), Paredes (R Silva), De Arrascaeta (Talisca)

Cards
Stockport: De Sciglo, Schneiderlin, Draxler
Cambuur: Rico, Paredes, Carrillo

MotM: Leandro Paredes (Cambuur). Unplayable. 2 goals and an assist from the midfield maestro - you won't see a better attacking midfield performance all season.