Manta League Cup Quarter-finals

Only six days from now, this season's Manta League Cup champion will be decided. Who are the contestants left to battle it out for this great award? The winners from the quarter finals of course. In this article, you'll find a small review of each game and of course the cup stats.
Chaos Shumen 2-0 Sabbath Albion

A dominating performance in midfield saw The Chaos Squad come out deserved winners in the most predetermined of this round's matches. Having beaten Sabbath at their own ground just a day before in the league, chaosmaster had decided to switch tactics and went for a 4-5-1 to counter the away side's 4-3-3. This choice seemed to pay off, as the Chaos midfield had full control and two second half strikes by DMF Huntley and CMF Lomas secured progression into the semis.


Noodle FC 2-2(pens: 3-5) Kif Villans

In the most anticipated match of the round, champions Kif Villans and ex-champions Noodle FC played a magnificent game which left the full stadium in awe, despite the home side losing in the end. Benzb had done a great job motivating his players and despite the defensive 5-3-2 line-up, it was midfielder Czeszyk who shined and subsequently earned the MotM award. 33 minutes into the game, the home side's dominance in possession finally paid off and Sonderby gave his side a deserved 1-0 lead. The goal turned out to be a big blow for Kif midfielder Wodaszak who couldn't control his nerves and was sent off just a minute later. With a 1 man advantage and the score in their favor, Noodle were looking to be certain semi-finalists and benzb subbed out their scorer 20 minutes before the end. kifd then made a match-defining decision. Having subbed out his forward Hirsch after the red card of Wodaszak, he proceeded to replace his other starting forward Milroy for Gray. And just as it seemed it was all over, Gray grabbed his fourth goal of the competition in the 92nd minute and forced the game into extra time. After a goalless first part, Czeszyk gave Noodle the lead again 5 minutes before the final whistle, but it was again Gray and again in the dieing seconds who equalized for the Villans and so the game had to be decided by penalties. Goalkeeper Shields kept his cool and with all of Kif's players scoring, Noodle were out after two misses.


Rex Mundi 3-2 Easyfit Walsall

Going into this game, The Happy Mundis were unsurprisingly favorites and the twelve thousand gathered to watch the game were pretty certain it would end in normal time. Total control of possession and a cannonade of shots by the Rex forwards confirmed those expectations, but it took almost an hour for the scoring to be opened. Logan's 57th minute goal was no surprise, but the immediate equalizer by Easyfit's Walther was a cold shower for the home team. And if that wasn't enough, Walther grabbed his second of the evening 13 minutes later. Emotions were high again for the home supporters just 2 minutes afterwards with Wheldon making it 5 goals in this season's league cup. It was only fitting for such an entertaining game to go to extra time, but unlike the Noodle FC versus Kif Villans game, this one didn't last until penalties. Craddock earned the MotM award with a goal on the brink of extra time's finish and with it Rex are now in the semis.


Smirnenski United 1-2 Scudders

While the quarter-final between benzb and kifd was bound to be a close game and stole the highlights, many had also directed their attention to this fixture as neither of the teams had an obvious advantage over the other. The game flow seemed to justify the thousand empty seats as chances were scarce and fouls were aplenty, but the home side were one ahead in the 63rd minute courtesy of an Oscroft shot. The pressure was now on Scudders and with Smirnenski having not conceded in this season's competition, things weren't looking good. However, all it took was two minutes between the 72nd and 73rd for Sukova and Atwell to turn the game around and a sound display in defense and midfield secured Scudders' progression into the semis for the first time in their history.


Team Stats

Team	Div	GF	GA	ET	Pen	H	A
Chaos Shumen	Prem	10	3	1	0	3	2
Kif Villans	Prem	12	4	0	1	2	3
Rex Mundi	Prem	12	3	2	0	2	3
Scudders	Prem	13	4	0	0	4	1

Top Scorers (players from eliminated teams in red)

Name	Team	Goals
W Schwarz	Scudders	7
H Walther	Easyfit Walsall	6
K Tilly	Norwood FC	6
R Ianniello	Hornets	5
R Grey	Kif Villans	5
D Wheldon	Rex Mundi	5
G Burns	Sabbath Albion	5