MAFL Week 18 Roundup
Dramatic shifts continue to be the main trend for MAFL season 2 as Dongji plays their best game of the season only to lose 2 of their forwards to injuries. It’s unsure whether Dongji will be able to continue playing through to the finals in this state. Meanwhile, both the Titans and United have secured a place in the playoffs, while the Dynamos, Al’amal, and Wuji contend for their places.
Titans - Comets
Simha 23 • San Olympus Stadium
Clash of the giants leaves the Titans victorious.
Tensions are always high when the Titans and Comets face off in the pitch. But things are looking very different from Season 1 for the rival teams. Nash was seen back on the pitch this week after taking time off for his mental health. He was in fine form and sliced through the defense on a breakaway to open up scoring with a smash into the bottom corner.
The Comets held up under the pressure with excellent play and pacing in the first half allowing Bradley and Coronel to score a goal each. A well-timed change in the lineup, however, gave the Titans the opportunity to level the score and overtake the Comets as Langanag delivered a wicked free kick.
GOALS
1ST 6’ Nash (Titans) breaks-away and scores after a one-on-one opportunity against Agre.
1ST 14’ Bradley (Comets) scores with an assist from Ferraz
1ST 19’ Coronel (Comets) taps in a goal with the outside of his left.
2ND 12’ Ware (Titans) scores with a backheel flick into the top right of the goal.
2ND 20’ Langanah (Titans) scores on a direct free kick.
| SHOTS | |
|---|---|
| 24 | 27 |
| POSSESSION | ||
|---|---|---|
| 55% | 45% | |
| FOULS | |
|---|---|
| 5 | 3 |
Europa United - Al’amal Sports Club
Simha 23 • Europa Stadium
Gonzalez is immediately ejected from the game for assaulting a referee drone.
Barnato’s near hat-trick dazzles and keeps United ahead of Al’amal
A reflex save by Al-Pour, kept Barnato’s attack from achieving a hat trick, but didn’t keep United from winning the match. While Al’amal opened up the game with a solid lead after goals from Ramin and Guler. However, the ejection of Fayad midway through the first half, and Gonzalez’s red card early in second quickly turned the tide as United was able to bring in fresh substitutes while Al’amal battled on with their increasingly exhausted team.
Barnato was able to level the score and bring the match into extra time where Fuchs flicked a shot from the left of the box into the goal after a breakaway. Although, not crippled by player ejections, United was beset by equipment malfunctions that have some suggesting sabotage.
GOALS
1ST 3’ Barnato (United) opens with a solid intercept she converted effortlessly into a shot into the right corner.
1ST 9’ Ramin (Al’amal) scores with an assist from Baddour.
2ND 5’ Guler (Al’amal) brings the ball under control following a boost-assisted leap and scores from up high.
2ND 8’ Khosla (United) carries Barnato’s long-range pass past the box and scores with a powerful right-footed kick.
2ND 17’ Baddour (Al’amal) counterattacks after an indirect freekick to snatch the ball and breakaway for an effortless goal.
2ND 24’ Barnato (United) scores a last minute equaliser to extend the game into extra time
ET 4’ Fuchs (United) scores a surprise goal with a desperate bicycle kick that hits true.
FOULS
Fayad ejected from play midway through the first half after her second yellow card.
Gonzalez booked with a red card and immediately ejected from the match for kicking a ref-drone.
| SHOTS | |
|---|---|
| 24 | 28 |
| POSSESSION | |
|---|---|
| 41% | 59% |
| FOULS | ||
|---|---|---|
| 3 | 4 | |
Dongji - Immortals
Simha 24 • Dongji Park
Exciting shoot out match that ends horribly for Dongji.
Dongji is in sad shape following this week’s match as two of their critical forwards are out of the season with major injuries. DaCosta may be out for the rest of the season after a midair collision results in a particularly hard landing. Meanwhile, Saqqat is definitely out of the running with a fractured leg after a miscalculated boost sent her crashing into the corner of the topside.
“This has been a really rough season for us, and with two forwards out—we’ll barely have enough players. We’ll find a way though. We’ll make it through.” says Rain Chen of the Dongji’s state.
Meanwhile, the Immortals have made huge gains in the last 6 weeks, but is it too little too late? The chances are slim as they would need to win the next three matches and bet on the possibility that neither Al’amal or Wuji win theirs.
GOALS
1ST 3’ Geng opens scoring for Dongji with a right-footed tap past the left of Badal.
1ST 9’ Ekberg (Dongji) follows up Geng’s goal with a burst of speed through midfield, and power shot at the goal from 30 metres out.
1ST 14’ Kata (Immortals) retrieves the ball and scores after Talpur attempts a free kick.
1ST 21’ Dongji defender, Mao, took advantage of a freak opportunity to blitz past a completely unguarded left field to take Badal by surprise.
2ND 8’ Lanka (Immortals)
2ND 13’ Parkar (Immortals)
2ND 15’ Ekberg (Dongji) scores his second goal with another powerful right-footed smash.
2ND 19’ Hagendoorn equalises the match for the Immortals with her clever punt over Su’s head.
2ND 21’ Lanka (Immortals) dribbles past the midfield and scores a long-range goal.
| SHOTS | |
|---|---|
| 20 | 28 |
| POSSESSION | |
|---|---|
| 45% | 55% |
| FOULS | |
|---|---|
| 4 | 4 |
Wuji Sports Club - Dyanmos
Simha 24 • Tiangong Stadium
Petrovich celebrates after the Dynamos win the match.
Danilovich shuts down Wuji’s attempt to challenge the Dynamos.
Wuji played offensively and managed to get 21 shots in, but less than half of those were on target. On top of that, Danilovich’s insane reflexes shut down 5 of those 6 shots on goal point blank. The only goal that got past Danilovich’s guard was a neatly executed penalty kick Hachette popped in after a feint to the left.
The Dynamo win is a great relief for Ludomir, but doesn’t quite guarantee the Dynamos a spot in the finals yet.
GOALS
1ST 12’ Petrovich smashes the ball home after Nikitovna flicks the ball out of the corner to him
2ND 4’ Nijdar scores with a dynamic aerial back kick for the Dynamos.
2ND 18’ Hachette successfully takes the penalty kick for Wuji
2ND 22’ Karaaria (Dynamos) fires a laser into the bottom right corner
FOULS
Wong becomes the most-booked player on Wuji with his 9th foul of the season. Ejected from the match after his second yellow card near the end of the first half.
| SHOTS | |
|---|---|
| 21 | 30 |
| POSSESSION | |
|---|---|
| 43% | 57% |
| FOULS | |
|---|---|
| 4 | 3 |
Stats & Standings
Rankings
| Team | M | W | L | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Titans | 18 | 12 | 6 | 47 |
| United | 18 | 12 | 6 | 44 |
| Dynamo | 18 | 11 | 7 | 42 |
| Al'Amal Sports Club | 18 | 10 | 8 | 41 |
| Wuji Sports Club | 18 | 8 | 10 | 39 |
| Immortals | 18 | 8 | 10 | 37 |
| Comets | 18 | 7 | 11 | 45 |
| Dongji | 18 | 3 | 15 | 32 |
| Top Scorers | ||
|---|---|---|
| Uday Lanka | 16 | |
| Readale Nash | 14 | |
| Darkeem Dennis | 13 | |
| Arwa Farra | 10 | |
| Qigang Lian | 10 | |
| Yvonne Barnato | 10 | |
| Raenia Ware | 9 | |
| Jube Terrell | 8 | |
| Ilya Petrovich | 8 | |
| Lennard Fuchs | 8 | |
Unthinkable Upset - Titan lose to DJ
As much as he tried to conceal it, Titans manager Paulo Salgado was baffled. His top-ranked team had just lost 3-1 to league’s worst. Reporters assembled in the Titans’ locker room after the game gingerly tried to coax some kind of explanation out of the notoriously cantankerous coach. Was it a case of fatigue? Had his team’s runaway success made the team overconfident? Did they not prepare as rigorously as usual?
San Olympus, Makara 15, 2077, m249
As much as he tried to conceal it, Titans manager Paulo Salgado was baffled. His top-ranked team had just lost 3-1 to league’s worst. Reporters assembled in the Titans’ locker room after the game gingerly tried to coax some kind of explanation out of the notoriously cantankerous coach. Was it a case of fatigue? Had his team’s runaway success made the team overconfident? Did they not prepare as rigorously as usual?
“Alright, just shut up,” he said, throwing his hands in the air. “You want the honest answer? I have no idea.”
He fiddled with the zipper on his jumper.
“This is hands-down the most embarrassing defeat of my career.”
Paulo Salgado loses his cool after being gutting at the hands of Dong Ji.
And well, it should be. The Titans matchup against the Huacheng Dongji — in San Olympus no less, the most boisterous of MAFL stadiums – was seen as a foregone conclusion. It was so severely lopsided that many fans in San Olympus didn’t even tune in. In fact, the first-half of the game posted the lowest viewership to-date from the colony – which is usually the MAFL’s most active market. And in doing so, those fans missed the most astonishing upset in the league’s young history.
DJ had already signalled that it had given up on the season, selling off its star Darkeem Dennis to focus on a major rebuild. Before the game, they were 4-13, firmly in last place.
“That should teach them,” Dongji manager Rain Chen said. “Teams always rule us out. And frankly, it pisses us off. It makes us play harder. Look at today: They were so arrogant. You could tell guys thought they could just come out and pad their stats. Shooting when they shouldn’t. Trying silly moves on our defenders. “
“You can’t count any one out in this league.”
When word of Chen’s boasts reached the San Olympus locker room, it nudged (Santiago into a full-blown tantrum.
“Coach Chen is saying he taught you a lesson,” one Huacheng-based reporter said.
“Bullshit,” Santiago said. “That idiot has nothing to teach me. Neither do you people.”
He signalled to a staff member, who aggressively ushered the reporters out of the room.
Mars March to First MAFL Playoffs
With the UEFA Champions League barely underway, football fans will have to wait another 7 months before a conclusive championship match. During that time, where will football fans get their playoff fix?
Look no further than Mars...
Saturday, October 23, 2077
Earth-World Associated Press
With the UEFA Champions League barely underway, football fans will have to wait another 7 months before a conclusive championship match. During that time, where will football fans get their playoff fix?
Look no further than Mars, where the inaugural season of the Martian Aero Football League (MAFL) is generating a new buzz for football fans as they head down the playoff stretch.
A key battle in Week 18 of MAFL play - the Noviymir Dynamo vs. the Al’amal SC.
Leading up to the match, both Al’amal and the Amrita Immortals were clinging onto a final playoff spot with a red hot Dynamo right on their heels. The battle for their playoff lives has been a welcome reprieve for the Dynamo as their real lives have been turned upside down by the Chubarov outbreak.
Since being locked out, the Dynamo have been undefeated as a new goalkeeper, a new commitment to defence, and a new motivation to uplift the spirits of their colony has helped them go undefeated.
Extending their undefeated streak to 4 matches would not come easy against the high powered Al’amal offence - the leading scoring team in the league with three of their players in the top five for goals scored.
And one of those players, Captain Musaddiq Baddour, opened scoring at the 30th minute when he dribbled past two defenders before rounding the goalkeeper Boris Danilovich and slotting home.
The Dynamo’s Amaresh Yaee Etefu responded 9 minutes later with a header to the corner past goalkeeper Ahmed al-Pour.
Dynamo’s Mariah Maalouf gave the team the lead at the 49th minute by meeting a cross from Captain Ilya Petrovich with a stunning volley from outside the penalty area.
And then the Dynamo went on the defence and stymied the powerful Al’amal offence for the next 40 minutes. Just when it looked like the Dynamo would win again, Balraj Sodhi delivered a left foot volley following a cross by Arwa Farra for the tying goal – at the 89th minute!
Which led to overtime and in MAFL play that means straight to penalty kicks! Unlike Earth football, penalty kicks are welcomed by fans for their excitement, and by players due for survival purposes – they only have so much oxygen in the tank – literally!
In Penalty Kicks, Dynamo’s Petrovich struck first. A couple of misses later were then followed by Al’amal’s Genrietta Olegovna to tie things up. Five failed shots followed before Dynamo’s former goalkeeper, Ilya Kyrylyuk, curled a shot past al-Pour for the winner in the final penalty shot of OT!
A Penalty Kick to Remember! Kyrylyuk falls to his knees after his 5th round penalty kick goal.
PKOT 2-1 for the Dynamo. The win is now their fourth in a row and has them tied with Al’amal for the final playoff spot with three weeks to go.
“For most of the season, I have felt like I've let down the team,” said a jubilant Kyrylyuk after the match. “I can't express how much this goal means to me on a personal level.”
On another celebratory note, Novyimir will be lifting the quarantine tomorrow, so the Dynamos will will be finally returning home to reunite with loved ones.
And the end of the regular MAFL season is in sight as three weeks remain until the playoffs. Football fans stay tuned. There’s an exciting march to the finish happening in Mars Football.
Comets @ Wuji
Would the Wuji upset the Comets and make it two wins in a row?
Would the Comets lose their 2nd game in a row and lose significant momentum down the playoff stretch?
That’s what many were thinking during the majority of the match as the Wuji struck first at the 8th minute with a low kick by Hu Liao that soared under the defenders and past Comets goalkeeper Zaida Agre.
Would the Wuji upset the Comets and make it two wins in a row?
Would the Comets lose their 2nd game in a row and lose significant momentum down the playoff stretch?
That’s what many were thinking during the majority of the match as the Wuji struck first at the 8th minute with a low kick by Hu Liao that soared under the defenders and past Comets goalkeeper Zaida Agre.
And upon taking that lead, the Wuji quickly switched to a defensive 5-2-2-1 formation with five defenders, two defensive midfielders, two offensive midfielders and one clean striker.
This helped Wuji hold onto that 1 – 0 lead for the next 15 minutes.
30 minutes.
45 minutes.
60 minutes.
And as the clock continued to tick away, Comets Manager, Gordan J. Pryce increased his pacing, animation, and agitation towards his players.
Until finally they responded at the 87th minute.
Comets midfielder Aba Samma stole the ball from Wuji’s Liao Hu and curled a shot into the bottom corner past Wuji goalkeeper Trenton Seaton.
And just like that, Liao Hu goes from Hero to Zero, and the Comets go from Zero to One to tie the game.
And the Comets would not leave their fate to chance in overtime penalty kicks.
Comets #67 Jon Elliot makes the deciding goal in the final minutes of the match.
Just two minutes later at the 89th minute, a clearing pass from Seaton was retrieved by United Forward Jonathan Elliot. Elliot passed over to Captain Liddell Bradley who dribbled around a defender before cutting the ball back through the area to Elliot who drove the ball past Seaton for the winning goal!
Comets win 2 – 1 over Wuji.
“They played a tough defensive game and gave us a real scare”, said Bradley after the match. “I think we need to get Coach checked by the medics as we almost gave him a bloody heart attack.”
With the win, the Comets move to 11 and 7 for the season, holding 2nd place in league standings. The Wuji move to 6 and 12 for the season, holding 2nd last place in league standings.
For the Comets, their path to the playoffs goes through Dong Ji, the Immortals, and a season finale with the league leading Titans @ San Olympus.
The Legend Returns
Despite having home field advantage, United was unable to produce, creating few offensive chances as their recent forward additions of Darkeem Dennis and Yvonne Barnato were shut down.
Europa, Saturni, Makara 14, 2077, m249
With their playoff chances at risk, the Immortals Captain, Uday Lanka, returned to action to help lead his team to a 1 – 0 win over United.
“I’m not 100% yet but this was a big match for us as United’s improved a lot and we have Al’amal and Dynamo breathing down our throats for a playoff spot”, said Lanka. “At this stage, every game is crucial.”
And that urgency was also felt by United as they came into the match sitting just outside of a playoff spot needing a win to stay within striking distance.
And yet despite having home field advantage, United was unable to produce, creating few offensive chances as their recent forward additions of Darkeem Dennis and Yvonne Barnato were shut down.
Which meant an all too familiar story for United – their over reliance on their steady and stingy defence to keep them close. A noticeably slower Lanka who ran gingerly most of the match also helped United.
And with all signs pointing towards overtime, lady luck would rear its head, much to the favour of Amrita.
Immortals #7 Lanka beats United Goalkeeper, #48 Sulzberger (oddly wearing a #4 jersey).
An errant pass from United goalkeeper Kevin Sulzberger fell right into the path of a surprised yet willing Lanka, who responded with a powerful volley past Sulzberger for the winning goal….at the 89th minute!
With the win, the Immortals moved to 10 – 8 for the season and sole possession of 3rd place in league standings for now, while United dropped to 7 – 11.
While United is still mathematically within playoff contention with three weeks left, the likelihood of this materializing is dependent on United winning all of their upcoming 3 matches.
They will have home field advantage again next week against the league leading Titans and then faceWuji (@ home) and Dong Ji (on the road).
“We can’t look too far ahead”, said Dennis, when asked about his return to Dong Ji, his previous team. “We need to channel the frustration from today’s loss to motivate us next week against the Titans if we are to have a shot at the playoffs”.
Lanka commented on his team’s chances, “We have a tough schedule to finish off the season as we play all the contenders - the Titans, Comets, and Al’amal. Tonight we get rest. Tomorrow, we get ready.”