It’s the biggest round of the tournament. 32 teams, 480 players (sort of), over 500 hours of gametime (if you count it like that) and 51 goals. Okay, so it’s only Round Two, but there were some tasty matches. Here we go…!
Banana Swans (31) 20 – 31 Wijnaldum Leviosa (6)
Half-time: Banana 2-10 Wij Lev
Wij Set Up Another Cup Run with Repeat Win over Swans
Wijnaldum Leviosa have faced Banana Swans three times before. All three games were in Season 5 – a two-legged game in the First Round of the inaugural Intramural League in which Swans won both games, followed later in the season by a 45-27 win for Wij in the BFFA Cup. Wij went on to be Cup Runners-Up that season. Wij enter this Cup with huge momentum, now fifth in League One, just two points off the promotion places and ranked sixth overall.
Wijnaldum took an early lead through Aaron Cresswell’s clean sheet while Swans had Fabianski ready on the bench with the same attribute. He wasn’t needed however as the next day Kasper Schmeichel repeated the feat and gave Swans the lead. They added to that through Sterling’s second-half header against Liverpool while Leviosa’s Robertson & Mane faltered and Rudiger put the ball into his own net away at Bramall Lane.
On the final day however, with no players left for the Swans, Wij Lev found their form through Harrison’s third-minute goal from 18-yards and Raphinha’s blocked shot which, when parried by Guaita and put away by Patrick Bamford, clocked up an assist and sealed the game for the visitors.
Banana Swans:
Goal: Sterling (76′)
Min: 549 G: 1 AT: 0 YC: 2 RC: 0
Wijnaldum Leviosa:
Goal: Harrison (3′)
Own Goal: Rudiger (55′)
Min: 915 G: 1 AT: 1 YC: 1 RC: 0 OG: 1
Bigger Than Brolin (10) 51 – 44 AFC Chester (13)
Half-time: Big Brol 10-11 Chester
Big Brol Comeback through Leeds Resilience.
This was the first meeting between the sides. Both began and ended the weekend in fourth place in their respective leagues, with similar records (Played 23, Lost 10). Both also won their League games this weekend too. Bigger than Brolin made five transfers from the waiver wire – including Leeds trio Luke Ayling, Pascal Struijk and Raphinha.
Ollie Watkins scored first for Chester. However, some of that work was undone when Soucek saw red for a seemingly inocuous raised elbow that flattened Mitrovic. Much later in the the evening though James Rodriguez equalised for Everton, giving Chester a narrow half-time lead.
The next day both teams enjoyed a pair of assists from man-of-the-match Timo Werner, helping Chelsea to a 2-1 win away. The Man City win over Liverpool saw BtB’s Gabriel Jesus assisting Chester’s Phil Foden, adding to Foden’s two previous assists and Chester finished the day 44-27 up.
The final day had only one game, Leeds vs. Palace, featuring four players for BtB and a redundant ‘keeper for Chester. Meslier was unable to come on for the visitors but was first-choice ‘keeper for Big Brol and, with Chester all finished, Big Brol needed seventeen points to tie the game, eighteen to win. Leeds went on to beat Palace two-nil and all four BtB players played the full ninety minutes. The clean sheet gave Big Brol twelve points, their appearances added eight, Raphinha’s technical assist was worth three and Meslier made three saves for another point. Big Brol had scored twenty-four at the final whistle and won the match by seven.
Bigger Than Brolin:
Min: 877 G: 0 AT: 6 YC: 2 RC: 0
AFC Chester:
Goals: Watkins (2′), Rodriguez (52′)
Sent Off: Soucek (90+7′)
Min: 883 G: 2 AT: 6 YC: 2 RC: 1
Cumberland FC (24) 31 – 42 Vanishing Spray FC (23)
Half-time: Cumber 27-27 Spray
Premier League Dominance Over Cup-Lucky Cumberland
These two entered the match just one rank apart (750 FPts v 757 FPts). Both teams survived First Round ties to be here; Cumberland saw off Sugar Daddies and Spray had to endure an action-packed replay against Boss. Both teams also went out in the Quarter-Final of the Winter Cup – Spray went out to the current #1-ranked side Wives’ Fave and Cumberland went out to the eventual winners stilluvQPR. That was Cumberland’s second QF in their two Cup entries.
Both teams scored a goal in the first half of the weekend, in the final game of the day. Aaron Wan-Bissaka passed to Bruno Fernandes to score just before half-time, both registering points for Spray, but Calvert-Lewin equalised for Cumberland moments before the final whistle. Saturday ended with the fixture tied.
In the second half of the gameweek, the Premier League team built an uncatchable lead through Mason Mount’s goal and James Justin’s clean sheet. Cesar Azpilicueta could also have registered a clean sheet away at Sheffield United had Rudiger not passed into his own net. Cumberland crumbled in the second half, putting up only four more points from appearances for Mane and, a day later, Eberechi Eze. Unfortunately for Cumberland, and the competition as a whole, the lack of auto-subs was a negative factor yet again as the northerners had Phil Foden and thirteen valuable points stuck on their bench. Spray go through to their third Third Round match.
Cumberland FC:
Goals: Calvert-Lewin (90+5′)
Min: 794 G: 1 AT: 2 YC: 1 RC: 0
Vanishing Spray FC:
Goals: Mount (43′), Fernandes (45′)
Min: 990 G: 2 AT: 3 YC: 1 RC: 0
Gloopy Yarbles (4) 54 – 48 East Loop United (29)
Half-time: GloopYa 32-14 ELU
League One Side Prevails in 100-Point Barnburner
This is a replay of a Third Round match from the Winter Cup. League One’s Gloopy won that high-scoring game 51-41 thanks to a brace from Calvert-Lewin and a Bruno Fernandes penalty.
Fernandes and Calvert-Lewin put their names on the goalscorers sheet again, this time they were joined by Cavani and Rodriguez in the same match, and also a heroic thirteen from Phil Foden in the City game the following day. ELU’s three defensive clean sheets and new-signing Jorginho’s penalty gave them hope going into the final game of the week, but the Yarbles’ 50-pointer was an unmatchable high-score of the week. Jack Harrison and Raphinha gave it a good go, collecting thirteen between them, but ELU finished six shy. Gloopy make it through to the Third Round for the third successive time.
Gloopy Yarbles:
Goals: Cavani (24′) Fernandes (45′), Rodriguez (52′), Foden (83′), Calvert-Lewin (95′)
Min: 815 G: 5 AT: 3 YC: 1 RC: 0
East Loop United:
Goals: Harrison (3′), Jorginho (58′ pen)
Min: 894 G: 2 AT: 1 YC: 1 RC: 0
GoFYS FC (9) 38 – 38 The El Dude Brothers (15)
Half-time: GoFYS 31-19 Bros
GoFYS Caught Up in another High-Scoring Draw
Both teams come into this match sitting third in their Leagues. GoFYS are six points clear of AFC Chester in fourth; Bros were level on points with OatWheel and just 2 fantasy points ahead!
GoFYS took out a good lead in the first half. Two West Ham clean sheets, an assist for Rashford and two more for ASM gave them a twelve-point lead at the halfway point. Bros, however, scored well on the Saturday, also with two clean sheets and a Man United assist. The following day the rookie side benefitted from Justin’s clean sheet and Ilkay Gundogan’s brace against Liverpool (although the penalty miss was a blow for them). Ziyech and Zaha both failed to play this weekend meaning that Bros finished the weekend with just nine men on the pitch. Ben Mee offered a point on the bench but wasn’t brought on, so the game finished level and the pair will meet again next weekend.
GoFYS FC:
Min: 824 G: 0 AT: 3 YC: 2 RC: 0
The El Dude Brothers:
Goals: Gundogan (49′, 73′)
Pens Missed: Gundogan (37′)
Min: 775 G: 2 AT: 1 YC: 0 RC: 0 PKM: 1
Goleta Hotspur (26) 23 – 32 Sporting Wicker Park (16)
Half-time: Goleta 8-16 Wicker
SWP See Off League One Side in Dead Rubber
This was the thirteenth game beween the sides. Goleta dropped down to fourth place in League One midweek after a fourth consecutive loss and SWP are seventh in the Championship, two points above the relegation zone. SWP made three changes to their squad pre-match, bringing in Pepe, Gross & Ricardo Pereira, and Goleta replaced Thiago Silva with Chelsea’s Azpilicueta.
In a game that produced no goals and no bookings, the Championship side claimed a win with assists from Wan-Bissaka and Bernardo Silva, but ultimately won out through simply fielding a full compliment of players against eight men of Goleta. Dier, Mina and Ziyech were unused substitutes this weekend and Reguilon & de Bruyne are both recovering from thigh strains. Azpilicueta did play for Chelsea against The Blades, but was left on Goleta’s bench as they quietly exited the Cup.
Goleta Hotspur:
Min: 685 G: 0 AT: 0 YC: 0 RC: 0
Sporting Wicker Park:
Min: 903 G: 0 AT: 2 YC: 0 RC: 0
Hung Like a Bony (20) 30 – 35 Mighty fine feeling (7)
Half-time: Hung 10 – 23 Mff
Mighty Rollercoaster Leaves Hung Hanging
In the first meeting between the two sides, these two ladder-climbing teams competed for a chance to go on another Cup run. At the start of the match, Hung were fifth and on a three-game win streak, Mff third and on a five-game win streak. Both teams have had Cup Semi-Final heartbreak in their BFFA careers, Mff lost to ELU in 2017 and Hung lost a replay in the last tourney to stilluvQPR. Mff made three new additions before the tie, welcoming in Robert Sanchez, Ben Mee and Ryan Fraser into their squad.
It proved to be a game of contrasting performances between the two teams. Hung LaB registered zero goals, no assists nor cards, but they did collect three defensive clean sheets from the games at Molyneux and Villa Park. In stark contrast to the quiet output from the Hung LaB, Mff had a very yo-yo kind of a gameweek.
After picking up low-scores from the first two games, Soucek was then shown red for jostling with Mitrovic in the bore draw at Craven Cottage and gave Mff a goose egg. That evening though their fortunes changed when Cavani and Calvert-Lewin both scored in front of the East Stand. The Feeling led at the half 23-10.
On the second day Robertson also brought home an egg for the collection and Firmino’s only shot was saved by Ederson. Then Gundogan was awarded a penalty, which he managed to sky over Alisson’s bar and took three points off Mff’s total. However, redemption was had in the second half when he scored twice and turned a minus-three into a nine-pointer. Meanwhile, Rui Patricio, Semedo and Barnes contributed clean sheet points to Hung’s tally from the 0-0 at Molyneux, but it wasn’t enough and with no-one on their bench, Hung fell short of the next round by five clear points.
Hung Like a Bony:
Min: 736 G: 0 AT: 0 YC: 0 RC: 0
Mighty fine feeling:
Goals: Cavani (24′), Gundogan (49′, 73′), Calvert-Lewin (90+5′)
Sent Off: Soucek (90+7′)
Pens Missed: Gundogan (37′)
Min: 930 G: 4 AT: 1 YC: 1 RC: 1 PKM: 1
Jaysokker (19) 44 – 27 Atletico Topo Chico (34)
Half-time: Jaysokk 6-16 ATC
No Surprises in The Battle of the League Two
In the only tie to put two league rivals together, second-placed Jaysokker play ninth-placed ATC. Jaysokker have won all three games between the two sides so far this season, including the 35-23 win just a few days ago. Strangely, there were no goals scored in their last match but there were a dozen goals in the previous two games.
There were only two goals in this game. Both for Jaysokker, both on Sunday. Saturday belonged to ATC; a clean sheet for Cresswell, an assist for Traore and eight more appearance points gave them a healthy lead at the half. On Sunday, however, ATC fell victim of Liverpool’s misfortune while Jaysokker capitalised on Leicester’s clean sheet, a goal for Son, a goal for Salah and an assist for Bernardo Silva too. Those thirty-two points were enough to send Jaysokker’s name back into the hat and into the next round draw.
Jaysokker:
Goals: Son (58′), Salah (63′ pen)
Min: 942 G: 2 AT: 2 YC: 2 RC: 0
Atletico Topo Chico:
Min: 612 G: 0 AT: 2 YC: 0 RC: 0
Klopps and Robbers (8) 22 – 39 BattleVAR Galáctico (25)
Half-time: K&R 10-25 Bat Gal
K&R Despair as Game-Changing Subs Unable To Come On
Another pair meeting for the first time. Both teams lost their only match in the Winter Cup – BattleVAR 35-28 against ELU and K&R lost 41-35 versus Cumberland. This time one of them would be playing at least a second game! Both teams made a signing before kickoff; Klopps picked up Brighton ‘keeper Sanchez and BattleVAR signed newly-returned Jesse Lingard.
Ollie Watkins scored first, assisted by Bertrand Traore, a goal and an assist for BattleVAR and set them on their way. BattleVAR scored 25 by the end of play on Saturday while Klopps could only manage ten from five players. Rodriguez, after scoring against Man United, sat patiently on the K&R bench.
Sunday was a similar story for both teams. K&R averaged two points per player again, using up their remaining six slots. Serge Aurier and the returning Harry Kane also sat on the bench with six points apiece. Meanwhile, Bat Gal was rewarded with a Schmeichel clean sheet and a cheeky Raheem Sterling goal moving them onto thirty-nine and earning them the place in the next round.
Klopps and Robbers:
Min: 851 G: 0 AT: 1 YC: 1 RC: 0
BattleVAR Galáctico:
Goals: Watkins (2′), Sterling (76′)
Min: 873 G: 2 AT: 2 YC: 1 RC: 0
RelicFC (12) 33 – 34 All Star Gunners (17)
Half-time: Relic 21-6 ASGs
Sometimes, Yellow Cards Decide Games
These two last met in the Championship in 2018/19. Both won two of those matchups, Relic scored marginally better, 223-221 FPts. ASG were promoted that season, Relic were relegated. More recently, the two sides shared a common enemy in the Cup – both were knocked out of the Winter Cup by Runners-Up Fossvogur FC. All Star Gunners made one change to their line-up, Jimenez was dropped for Willian José who joined their bench.
In a game that came very close to going to a replay, both teams scored just one goal, both goals coming from Spurs’ away win at The Hawthorns. Ultimately, it was a pair of yellow cards that decided the outcome of the tie. A booking for the luckless Bednarek for a foul on Almirón was reviewed by VAR (which determined that it was not severe enough for a(nother) sending off); that plus a late, late injury-time booking for Jack Grealish in their 1-0 win over the Arsenal helped to see ASG squeeze into to Third Round, despite Jonny Evans picking up a yellow card himself and an own goal courtesy of Antonio Rudiger.
RelicFC:
Goals: Son (58′)
Min: 747 G: 1 AT: 1 YC: 2 RC: 0
All Star Gunners:
Goals: Kane (54′)
Own Goals: Rudiger (55′)
Min: 990 G: 1 AT: 0 YC: 1 RC: 0 OG: 1
SB Town Baggers (5) 53 – 30 The Globes FC (36)
Half-time: SB Town 26-18 Globes
Baggers Comfortably Through, Outscoring Globes 4-1
These two legends of the game have been in the BFFA since the start, but haven’t met since they competed for Division Left Foot in Season One. SB Town won all four games against The Globes in that campaign. This week they come together as the most mis-matched fixture in the round; there were thirty teams and 278 Fantasy Points between them in the rankings table.
Both teams were knocked out in the First Round of the Winter Cup. Here though, both have made the Second Round – SB Town via a well-earned bye and The Globes by a single-point win over FC Santa Barbara. SB Town made five new additions to their side in the lead up to the match; The Globes remained as they were.
The tie started well for The Globes, a wonderful free kick from the ever-impressive Ward-Prowse early in the second half away at Newcastle, but the day very much belonged to the two-time BFFA Cup winners, SB Town. The Onion-Baggers benefitted from a pair of goals in the United-Everton draw and a goalless draw for Fulham rewarded their decision to put Areola in goal.
Sunday didn’t improve things for Globes who only really had a Soyuncu clean sheet to talk about. On the other side of the fixture, Baggers were profiting from Alderweireld and Jonny Evans clean sheets in the early games, and followed that up with the Gundogan brace that redeemed his penalty miss. Thrown in with a Jesus assist for good measure and they fully deserved the win here.
SB Town Baggers:
Goals: Fernandes (45′), Gundogan (49′, 73′), Calvert-Lewin (90+5′)
Pens Missed: Gundogan (37′)
Min: 917 G: 4 AT: 2 YC: 2 RC: 0 PKM: 1
The Globes FC:
Goals: Ward-Prowse (48′)
Min: 790 G: 1 AT: 2 YC: 2 RC: 0
Smash & Grab (3) 49 – 49 Ole’s at the Wheel (18)
Half-time: Smash 26-30 Ole’s
Everybody Loves A High-Scoring Draw (unless you’re a part of it).
This game presented the widest gap between the teams’ League positions in this Round, there are 32 teams between the top of the Premier League and fourth place in League Two. And it takes a special set of circumstances to produce a draw of this magnitude, but that’s what happened here this week.
OatWheel took the lead early through the first goal of the gameweek. Ollie Watkins’ second-minute strike was enough to give Villa the win, and the 1-0 final score also meant that Matty Cash and Matt Targett also brought home a six-pack each too. After just one game, Smash & Grab were facing an eighteen-point deficit. Both teams then played Nick Pope in goal in the second game, then S&G’s comeback began. James Ward-Prowse fired home from a free-kick in the third game, followed by a pair of West Ham clean sheets to edge Smash in front 21-20.
The fifth game was Man United v Everton, in which Smash played Rashford and Ole fielded Maguire, Shaw and Cavani. It was the Uruguayan Number Seven that scored first, assisted by Rashford, which restored Ole’s lead but only by one. United went in at half-time without conceding which looked promising for Ole’s defence (and that of yours truly, hence the bitterness), but Everton scored three in the second half and points were taken away rather than added. Ole’s went in to the break four points up.
The second day began with the two Pereira’s for S&G. Matheus failed to keep a clean sheet against Spurs, but Ricardo got his away at Wolves. Maddison also appeared, as did Vardy for OatW, but neither could add much to the game. After that slow afternoon, the game was reignited when S&G’s Salah put the ball past Ederson from the spot, and then Ole replied shortly afterwards through Mount’s goal against Sheffield United. With that, Smash went into the final match three-points up, both teams with two players remaining.
The last remaining game was Leeds v Palace. The home side, Smash, had Eze & Bamford facing Jack Harrison & new signing Ezgjan Alioski. In keeping with the back-and-forth nature of this game, it was Ole who scored first to retake the lead. Harrison fired high into the roof of the net from just inside the box after Palace failed to clear the ball. Leeds went into the changing room at half-time 1-0 up and Ole 45-43 up. Smash & Grab needed a goal or two to fight back and they got it through a blocked Raphinha shot that was palmed back into the incoming Patrick Bamford, who promptly passed into an open net for his 100th career goal. The lead returned to Smash & Grab and they held on to it until full-time. At the final whistle all four players collected two appearance points and, having won-to-nil, Ole’s two Leeds midfielders also picked up an extra CS point apiece and brought the sides level at 49-49. From a thrilling game that promises a good Cup run for the winner, the re-match will be played this coming weekend.
Smash & Grab:
Goals: Ward-Prowse (48′), Bamford (52′), Salah (63′ pen)
Min: 894 G: 3 AT: 3 YC: 1 RC: 0
Ole’s at the Wheel:
Goals: Watkins (2′), Harrison (3′), Cavani (24′), Mount (43′)
Min: 928 G: 4 AT: 1 YC: 1 RC: 0
Sorry not so sorry (22) 31 – 19 Tralfamadore Zoo FC (30)
Half-time: SNSS 9-15 Zoo
Sorry not so sorry Through without Remorse
SNSS lost in the Second Round of the Winter Cup, 47-34 to Gloopy Yarbles. Tralfamadore Zoo won their tie against AFC Chester that weekend but lost in the Third Round to RelicFC.
Ollie Watkins opened the scoring with a goal for The Zoo. That goal was enough to win the game for Villa and SNSS’s Saka and Willian were ineffective early Saturday afternoon. Following that, both managers put their faith in Lukasz Flappyhandski, and were rewarded with a clean sheet away at Fulham. Tralfamadore had further potential with a James Rodriguez goal that evening but with him inactive on the bench, his equaliser was no help for the Zoo cause.
The following day the Zoo only fielded Harvey Barnes, for three points. Against them SNSS put seven players into the action, collecting a disappointing but game-winning nineteen, thanks chiefly to Timo Werner’s two assists against struggling Sheffield United. On the final day, Zoo could only find one more point through Andros Townsend and bowed out in the Second Round for the third time in four attempts. Sorry not so sorry walk through without much of a struggle.
Sorry not so sorry:
Min: 725 G: 0 AT: 2 YC: 1 RC: 0
Tralfamadore Zoo FC:
Goals: Watkins (2′)
Min: 410 G: 1 AT: 0 YC: 0 RC: 0
stilluvQPR (13) 47 – 45 Housewives Favourite (1)
Half-time: stilluv 25-32 Wives’ Fav
Winter Cup Champs Narrowly Win in Another Seven-Goal Thriller
The reigning Cup Champions have been drawn against the #1-ranked team coming into the fixture. However, Wives’ Fave have stumbled in recent weeks, losing their last two games 39-40 & 48-53. stilluvQPR also lost 39-40 in the week before last, but they beat the League leaders Route 57 in their last game and were up for a fight this weekend.
Wives’ Fave, who were knocked out in the Semi-Finals of the last tournament, suffered a controversial loss due to the sending off of West Ham’s Tomáš Souček, a decision that Ian Wright called “the worst he’s ever seen.” The red card has since been rescinded and Souček’s suspension was immediately lifted. Unfortunately, the score still stands and stilluvQPR go through to the next round of the Cup.
Having outscored their opponents 5-2 on goals scored, stilluv have a right to feel like they earned the victory, despite the unfortunate factors involved. Five different goalscorers in five different games gave stilluv just enough points to get past the Best-ish’s #1 side and continue their unbeaten run in Cup competition.
stilluvQPR:
Goals: Dunk (36′), Mount (43′), Ward-Prowse (48′), Son (58′), Salah (63′ pen)
Min: 918 G: 5 AT: 0 YC: 0 RC: 0
Housewives Favourite:
Goals: Fernandes (45′), Ward-Prowse (48′)
Sent Off: Soucek (90+7′)
Min: 971 G: 2 AT: 1 YC: 1 RC: 1
The Money Team (21) 37 – 43 Route 57 FC (2)
Half-time: Money 8-14 R57
New-Look Route 57 Become New Tournament Favourites
The second-ranked team in the BFFA, Route 57, had only made the Third Round once in four attempts. Their opponents, Money, have had the same lack of Cup success in that time too, but did make the Quarters twice in the two seasons before. Both lost their only Cup match at this stage last November, but the draw guaranteed that one would make the Last Sixteen again.
The two teams met for the first time this weekend, both as second-placed teams in their leagues. Between them, the pair made ten new signings in the run-in including Soyuncu, Bednarek & Pepe for The Money Team and Rudiger, Adams, Ayling and Klich for Route 57.
Contrary to most of the other games in this round, Saturday was a rather quiet affair. Jan Bednarek might consider himself lucky (although I doubt he would) not to have been sent off or have an own goal against his name, and that he came away without negative points for Money. Ross Barkley and Ruben Loftus-Cheek both collected token midfielder clean sheet points and Nicolas Pepe was given a full game against the Villa but returned empty-handed. At the other end, R57 did receive proper CS points for Martinez’s time in goal and his three saves against the Arsenal. At St. James’ Park, R57 substitute Miguel Almiron put two past McCarthy and Che Adams thought he had scored too, but his goal was disallowed for offside. However, he was later awarded an assist for being brought down and offering Ward-Prowse a chance to convert from the free kick. JWP took that opportunity and R57 lead at the half by six points with an extra player in hand.
The following day, The Money Team took charge and built a seventeen-point lead over their Championship opposition. Lloris matched Martinez’s return with a clean sheet for himself and Soyuncu followed suit with one from the Leicester back line. Ben Davies also picked up six for R57 and Kane scored but he was also stuck on Route’s bench. In the following match Rudiger’s own goal denied Route more points and filled a space that would have been better used by the substitute. Similarly, Robertson played a full ninety minutes for R57 and returned with nothing after letting in four goals to City. Three of those goals involved Phil Foden as either an assister or goalscorer, rocketing Money into a huge lead.
With only Zaha on the Money bench, Route 57 had five players available to try and claw back the deficit. Luke Ayling came off their bench in the Leeds defence and Dallas, Eze, Klich and Bamford all played from start to finish too, which meant that Almiron (12pts) and Kane (6pts) could not feature in the Cup tie. In less than three minutes Harrison had scored for Leeds, pressing forward from a Dallas pass giving Route 57 an assist and leaving them nine points behind Money. In the second half, Leeds then doubled their lead through Bamford’s milestone goal in front of the empty Don Revie Stand, and the Oxfordshire outfit picked up another four. Eight minutes later, the clock hit sixty minutes and all five players doubled up on their appearances, then finally at the end of the gameweek Leeds United gifted R57 another six points for keeping their net empty. Route 57 march on as the new top-ranked team in the competition and are one win away from their first Quarter-Final.
The Money Team:
Goal: Foden (83′)
Min: 821 G: 1 AT: 2 YC: 2 RC: 0
Route 57 FC:
Goals: Bamford (52′)
Own Goal: Rudiger (55′)
Min: 984 G: 1 AT: 2 YC: 0 RC: 0 OG: 1
Webuiltthis City (11) 35 – 23 Bielsaball (39)
Half-time: Web City 15-13 Bielsa
History Repeats for Bielsa
In the Winter Cup, Bielsaball were drawn against the team at the top of League One, RelicFC. History repeated itself here as Web City moved up to the top of the League just before their Cup tie against the rookies. In the last tournament, both sides drew matches; Bielsaball won their First Round replay against Boss, while Web City lost theirs against Fossvogur in the Third.
The highlight of this game, which reflects the match quite well, was probably the no-score draw between Fulham and West Ham. Bielsaball had decided to invest in three Fulham defenders while Web City had signed Coufal defending the Hammers goal. Bielsa collected twelve points from that game, half of their total, and Web City got six. Only Aaron Wan-Bissaka’s assist added substantial value to City’s tally and they led at half-time by just two points, having played six of their players against Bielsaball’s three.
The second day injected some uncertainty, and dare I say, excitement, into the match. Most noticable of which was Gundogan’s missed penalty and two subsequent goals against Liverpool. Having conceded four, Alisson returned zero for Bielsa and Thiago also collected a yellow card that hindered them too. On top of that, Rudiger’s own goal meant that he contributed nothing on a disappointing day for the underdogs. The final match offered Bielsaball an outside chance of a comeback, playing Bamford & Klich off against Stuart Dallas, needing to claw back fifteen points. They made nine, but that was too little too late and Webuiltthis City trudge on into the next round.
Webuiltthis City:
Goals: Gundogan (49′, 73′)
Pens Missed: Gundogan (37′)
Min: 811 G: 2 AT: 2 YC: 0 RC: 0 PKM: 1
Bielsaball:
Goals: Bamford (52′)
Own Goal: Rudiger (55′)
Min: 653 G: 1 AT: 0 YC: 1 RC: 0 OG: 1
Min: Minutes Played, G: Goals, AT: Assists, YC: Yellow Cards, RC: Red Cards
Third Round Draw
The draw for the remaining rounds of the Cup – from the Third Round to the Final – will take place on Saturday 13th February, around 7:30pm.
If you’re still in the Cup, there will be a live video of the draw which you will be invited to watch and join in with. For those who aren’t, feel free to join in and good luck in the rest of your league campaign.
Say Something About This