Manta League Cup Quarter Finals

As has become tradition, after the league cup action I try to supply with a somewhat fictional review of the games and of course - the LC stats. Let's see what the Season 9 quarter-finals had to show.

Botev Plovdiv 3-1 Easyfit Walsall
A penalty win in the last round for Botev and a dominant display of scoring power by Easyfit in the previous round suggested a thrilling encounter in the first quarter-final match up. Hristoskov, however, had different ideas and cruised past his opponent with authority. The 13 shots on target the home team got and their 65% possession clearly show who was in control of this match up. Having taken the lead near the end of the first half, the Plovdiv side were put under a little pressure when Walther equalized for Easyfit 15 minutes after the interval. However back to back goals by Kodritz and Lysen gave the hosts a comfortable two goal advantage which sent them into the Semis.

High Plains Drifters 2-0 North London FC
Relatively new Manta manager FooQ keeps his impressive run going by eliminating the underdog sensation of this season's league cup North London FC. The away side, having started in round 1, showed resilience and took advantage of the luck of the draw to get this far, but having to play away against currently 9th placed in the Premiership was too much for them. Despite the Drifters' crushing possession, it took a penalty in the 40th minute to give them the lead, but even at that point the way the home side played made the outcome clear. Berthiaume and Crouch kept firing at Yerbury's goal and it didn't take much longer before the latter got on the score sheet. With that goal, confidence of victory took over the High Plains players and the lapse in concentration at front was probably the reason Berthiaume couldn't score more despite his constant attempts at goal. On the other end, Sumner and Mullen who both had 6 goals so far in the cup were thoroughly marked and could manage a total of 1 shot, before Mullen had to be carried away on a stretcher in the 69th minute.

Rex Mundi 2-1 Inter Milager
In contrast with what is to be expected of this competitive stage of the competition, the closest game of the four didn't even go to extra time. Rex Mundi needed a 91st minute goal to seal their place in the Semis after Inter's star striker Much tied the game in the 88th. And despite the thrilling ending, the game went under the home side's pace and Logan's 47th minute opener could've easily been enough for his team to progress. After the game Grezz probably had some harsh words towards his lone striker for wasting 10 shots which could've made the victory so much easier, but with progression a fact anything more than a quick talk would probably be excessive.

Warlords 0-3 Castle King FC
Castle King FC made club history by advancing to the Semis at the expense of Warlords. Being at home, the division 4 side probably had a slight edge, but their choice of a 5 man defense didn't stop Castle King strikers Vazuez and New from both scoring. It was Vazuez who gave his side a one goal advantage before half-time, but the second half was New's as he got a brace. Warlords central midfielder Bolder got a red card in the 79th, but at that point the game was practically finished.


S T A T S

Teams
Team	Div	GF	GA	ET	Pen	H	A
Botev Plovdiv	Prem	14	6	0	1	2	3
Castle King FC	Prem	14	4	2	0	4	1
High Plains Drifters	Prem	14	5	1	0	2	3
Rex Mundi	Prem	14	2	0	0	2	3

GF = goals for
GA = goals against
ET = games gone into extra time
Pen = games gone into penalties
H = games at home
A = games away

Top scorers
Player	Team	Goals
B Vazuez	Castle King FC	7
M Campagne	High Plains Drifters	7
B Lysen	Botev Plovdiv	6
M New	Castle King FC	6
E Grogan	Easyfit Walsall	6
D Mullen	North London FC	6
A Sumner	North London FC	6

That's all for this article. See you after the Semis.