No more fun for Daily Destroyers, only seriousness from now on, as the friendly games are a thing the past and the first competition game is upon us. We welcome TSG Hoffenheim in our home stadium, The Thunderdome, and look forward to what we can do against a team that is at least a promotion contender, and maybe even going for the title in our division. Obviously you'd always like to start the competition well, but getting a good result against the Germans would mean even more than winning a game against, for example, Mumbai FC. This is our starting eleven:



Not too much happened in the first ten minutes. Hoffenheim asked the referee for a penalty after a Bobson intervention, but our defender simply outclassed the German attacker. There was a lot of puzzling on both sides, but even though there was a lot of tension, the home crowd was happy to see the Daily defense holding on very well for the first twenty minutes. Garner-Hammerling Junior then saw Huber in the box in minute 22, but the Swiss was not able to score like he did several times in the pre-season friendly cup.

This opportunity did lead in some crazy minutes. We had a lot of chances, but were unable to convert a goal. Right after Huber's opportunity Torres tried beating the Hoffenheim goalie with his right foot, but a good save led to a corner. Defensive midfielder Rocky Wall tried to score with a shot from distance after a solo action, but another great save by the goalie led to another corner. That corner was almost scored by captain Macduff, but yet again the goalkeeper denied us the 1-0. Five minutes before halftime Ottaviani had the opportunity to open the score as well, but his shot missed precision.

The game started very slowly, but after a study round of twenty minutes we really took the matter into our own hands. The keeper denied us the opening goal though, which saw us go into the changing room with a 0-0. Before the game started we would have definitely liked this score, but with the way the game was going it was not to crazy to hope for more.

And more is exactly what we got in minute 52! Huber dived into the box of Hoffenheim and cut back, finding Garner-Hammerling Junior. The Swede had some space and curled the ball beautifully into the far corner, opening the score! After scoring the team's first goal ever our number one now also delivered the team's first competition goal, he surely knows when to score his goals! His goal was followed by some more midfield football and puzzling of both teams, as we were a bit lucky that the visitors badly aimed their first real chance of the game in minute 67. When the ball went out, The Thunderdome welcomed god of thunder Perun, Callahan and Martens as our three substitutes.

Hoffenheim started increasing the pressure without really creating danger, but it was supersub Martens who might have decided the game in the 78th minute! He received a pass from Brajkovic and started a run from the midfield line, and after cutting back like Huber did earlier in the half, the Belgian surprised everyone by going for the shot instead of passing the ball back. Being selfish at the right time can be a good idea, as the 2-0 stood on the scoreboard, making the home crowd absolutely bonkers! Martens isn't used to scoring a lot (yet) and didn't know how exactly to celebrate his important goal, so he decided to pose like the average French girl.



The other two substitutes were also present. First of all Perun played well, but had a weaker moment when giving away the ball with a bad pass around the 81st minute, leading to a Hoffenheim shot. The shot went wide, so no problem. A bit later the Germans were attacking again, and yet another great interception by Bobson, who played a terrific game, led to Callahan being sent forward. Callahan was then fouled by opponent Grillitsch inside the box, penalty for Daily Destroyers! Our favourite ginger and captain Macduff took his responsibility, and took the penalty. The Hoffenheim keeper dived into the right corner, but Macduff aimed his shot perfectly, 3-0!

After the 3-0 in the 89th minute, nothing more happened, which means we won our first competition game quite clearly. This was without a doubt the best team performance so far, and it is always nice to see it rewarded with several goals, a clean sheet, and most importantly three points. Our next game will be against the Tigres from Mexico, who beat Basel 3-1 today. Game highlights and key stats can be found under this message. Proud manager Nemolito signing off.



https://youtu.be/...

After a glorious opening of the season against Hoffenheim we made the trip to Mexico to play the Tigres. The Mexicans won their first game against Basel with an impressive 1-3 in Switzerland, and are definitely a team to be cautious of as well. Their defense might not be the best in the league, both their midfield and attack, led by Gignac, are quite strong on paper. Six of the seven bench players from the last game made their way onto the starting eleven:



Whereas our previous game started with no chances at all, this time things were different. Sadly enough it was midfielder Perun who lost the ball after playing too slowly, giving Gignac an opportunity to shoot form inside our box. The Frenchman is an experienced finisher, and it immediately showed. 1-0 for the home team after seven minutes. The Frenchman came close to a brace five minutes later, but a strong interception by captain Macduff ensured us a moment to take a breath. Ottaviani dived into the box of Tigres on the other side after the counterattack and then delivered Garner-Hammerling Junior the 1-1, but as coach Nemolito was already jumping up it became clear that the Swede inexplicably missed an open goal, therefore not repeating the same trick as in our opening game. In his defense, he did shoot with his weaker left foot.

Whereas Gignac kept giving our defense goosebumps with every touch of the ball, Maes saved us from a 2-0 around the 22nd minute. Ottaviani was our strongest player, as he singlehandedly created some more chances. First a header after a Martens Corner was saved on the line by a Mexican defender, then two shots from distance missed the target. There was a constant Tigres pressure on our defense, but it seemed we were going to reach the halftime trailing by 1-0.

Then the referee decided to be a prick. Only one minute of extra time was awarded, but after that minute was over the home team was still allowed to set up an attack from their own half with a through pass. Macduff intercepted that pass at first, but when he wanted to pass the ball back to Maes, waiting for the referee to blow his whistle, a tragedy happened. The pass wasn't exactly perfect and allowed for an opponent to sprint ahead of Maes and score the 2-0 in the 49th (!) minute! Shameful decisions were made by the referee in charge, we went into the changing rooms with a 2-0.

Captain Macduff was still feeling a bit down after halftime, as he gave away another Tigres opportunity in the 55th minute. Luckily for us, they missed. Change was needed, and Torres, Huber and Washington were brought on. The change didn't bring with it a shock effect, as a great one on one save was needed by goalie Maes only a minute later. It took us until the 74th minute to create another chance, as it was Spanish striker Torres going for it from distance after a through ball from Sepp Huber. Torres' shot was hard, but slightly missed the target.

Nevertheless, Tigres was still the better team. Maes kept our hopes up as he saved another dangerous opportunity slightly after the Torres chance, but it was not looking to bright. Torres then set up Huber in the 84th minute in what was our last chance at taking away something from this game, but the angle was a bit too tight, and the Swiss was unable to convert. Tigres actually had two big chances after that again, but both times their aim was luckily off.

And that was it for today. Whereas yesterday the boys did something magical, today we were brought back to reality at the other side of the world. Let's blame it on the jetlag, but also the referee for his shenanigans in the first half. Next game is also against a Latin American team, as we play the Boca Juniors, who missed their start of the competition with a 0/6.

Match stats:

A superb game was followed by a weak game against the Mexican Tigres. We get another chance to do well with a Latin American opponent on the pitch, as we welcome Boca Juniors in the Thunderdome for the third game of the season.



Huber and Nuts played on another position than they are used to, and it definitely had some impact on our game. Huber was very enthusiastic and helped in the defense where necessary, which was welcomed with applause by the home fans. Nuts on the other hand, had some trouble with his positioning. He badly marked his opponent on a through ball in minute twelve, and the Boca attacker beat Santana with a shot from inside our box. Two minutes later, we saw a similar story taking place again, but this time Santana was able to save the team. The Nuts story doesn't end here though. The right back was sent deep by Perun and saw Washington in the box. Great pass by Nuts, great finish by Washington, 1-1 and we're back in business in the 21st minute!

The business was still not doing too well though, as Boca Juniors has the upper hand. Two saves by Santana were needed short after another again. Washington could have added an assist to his account as well in the 33rd minute, but his pass was a bit too hard and Sanchez could not reach it. A shot from distance by Torres was then blocked just before half time. 1-1 going into half time seemed to be a correct score, with shots 3-4 in the advantage of the visitors and possession favouring us a bit.

The team performance went down a lot in the second half. Wall, Macduff and Perun all lost possession early on, but Boca didn't take the opportunity to strike. Manager Nemolito tried to change the momentum by subbing on Martens, Garner-Hammarling Junior and Brajkovic. But no, the team was playing their worst half ever so far, and those three names couldn't change that. Boca was creating some chances, but Santana was doing a one man job of keeping us in the game.

All of a sudden we were able to complete several passes in a row. Our magical Nuts, now on the left back position, rushed forward again and received the ball from Huber. He found a free Martens with a pass back, and Martens enforced his reputation of supersub by scoring with our first shot of the second half, 2-1!

Nevertheless, the game did not not really change. We went back to our terrible passing play, and Boca went all in for the equalizer. They came close in the 78th minute, when a shot from distance bounced back into play after hitting the post. Everyone in the stadium received a mini heart attack when Brajkovic 'tactically' fouled an opponent in the 89th minute, somehow not receiving a card from the referee, who decided to put the ball right outside of our box for a free kick. Perfetto won a header against his opponent, and Wall blasted the ball away as far as he could. It seemed to be far enough, as by the time Boca Juniors was able to set up another attack, the referee blew his whistle for the end of the game! We were definitely not the better team, but a win is a win, 6/9 for the Daily Destroyers!




https://youtu.be/...

And we're back! 6/9 for Daily Destroyers so far, let's see what we can do against Turkish side Galatasaray.



The first chance of the game was for the home team. After Brajkovic blocked a pass from the right side, the ball still unluckily fell dangerous for a Galatasaray strike. Our opponent missed the target, we escaped. In our last game we conceded a goal in the 12th minute, but this time it was the other way around. The Galatasaray defense started getting cocky and tried to outplay us, but a bad pass was intercepted by Garner-Hammerling Junior. The Swede quickly passed the ball to Washington, and after cutting back to his weaker left foot, he managed to beat the keeper, 0-1 for Daily Destroyers!

Maes showed himself for the first time in the 17th minute with a necessary save. Perun tried to score in the 25th minute after receiving the ball from Callahan, but the angle was too sharp. Both teams then tried creating more opportunities, but were unable to do so. Nevertheless, Galatasaray had a big scoring chance just before halftime, because Nuts failed to mark his man again. Maes saved us, and that must have felt very good for him. Let's try to not make the same mistake as the last game and come out of the changing rooms a bit more focused.

First fifteen minutes of the second half were more of the same: both teams looking for an opening but not finding it. Sanchez, Wall and Torres were then subbed on. In minute 69 Galatasaray played very quickly after we lost the ball during an attack. Diagne came eye to eye with goalie Maes, and the Belgian kept the 0 on the scoreboard with a superb save! It didn't take too long for us to react, Martens evaded a tackle and passed back to Torres, the goalie saved his effort.

But Martens wasn't done yet. The Belgian was getting more and more room as the Galatasaray leftback started joining the attack, and he definitely liked the space he was getting. He went for another rush in minute 77, and instead of going for a simple pass back he looked for Callahan who was positioned at the far post. Martens' assist was perfect, Callahan scored the 0-2 on the volley! Callahan tried scoring again with a shot from distance in the 86th minute, but the goalie had no trouble saving that shot.

We thought we had it in the bag, but Diagne managed to Beat Maes with a perfect shot after being a bit too strong physically for rightback Bobson. No problem though, as we managed to keep the ball in the team until the final whistle, another victory for Daily Destroyers!

Highlights: https://youtu.be/...

A very nice third place for us after four games, with the only team beating us currently leading the division. Burnley started out well, but then lost twice in a row, whereas Mumbai City FC and Wellington Phoenix are the only teams that haven't been able to win so far. Braga currently the best scoring team, whereas Torino has the worst defense with 13 goals against in four games.

Torino was supposed to be one of the title favourites, but after winning their opening game have lost three in a row. Not a picture of the starting eleven, but a whole video: https://www.youtu...Destroyers

Torino started the game as the better team, trying to find an opening in our defense. After six minutes Bobson denied them that opening with a good intervention. There was a quick counter, which was sadly not finished with a DD goal, as a bad pass by Torres screwed our chance at scoring. Nevertheless, from that sixth minute on, our team started to dominate the opposition. We had several chances, and it was clear to see why Torino was at the bottom of the table. Huber had two opportunities, Wall missed an open net after a nice Martens action on the right wing, Sanchez tried twice from distance, but still we couldn't score. Torino was nowhere to be seen, except for their keeper.

Finally Torino had a shot on target around the thirtieth minute. A shot from very far actually, which surprised Santana a bit. He was still able to save it without too much trouble. Then we went back to our dominating playstyle. Wall missed an open net for the second time in the game, Huber saw two more shots deflected and Sanchez also couldn't convert another shot from distance. But then, finally, in the fourtieth minute, we opened the score. Sanchez, who was having a good game, dribbled through the enemy's line and passed the leather to Torres. Our striker blasted the ball in the back of the net, making it 1-0 just before half time! The lead was well deserved, as we had 11 shots on target after 45 minutes, whereas Torino had one.

Sanchez was clearly having a field day. Right after half time he made Belotti look like a fool after some fancy dribbling, the Italian got mad and fouled him, rightfully receiving a yellow card. Perfetto had to come in and calm his countrymate down. We don't know what exactly our centreback was saying, but it looked something like this:



Torino finally managed to put a bit of pressure on us, and got a big chance after a through ball put Belotti one on one with Santana. Our favourite Bolivian waited until the right moment to come out, and saved it. We were then having some trouble to get out of the pressure, but the one time we did, we immediately scored the 2-0! Bobson was the one to intercept the ball again and he started the counter. From Wall it went to Martens, from the Belgian to Sanchez, to Torres, and then to Huber who finished it brilliantly, 2-0 in the 55th minute! Goal link: https://www.youtu...fwl61q0COk

Torino was improving their game though, and our backs were getting tired. The three subs in the 65th minute were Brajkovic, Nuts and Perun. The Italians were now clearly still the better team, creating chances. They managed to make it 2-1 in the 71st minute after Nuts lost possession on their half and they countered quickly, leaving Santana without a chance with a two on one. Santana then saved us in the 75th minute, as thanks to a super reflex Torino was unable to score the equalizer. Then Torino had a corner, and Belotti was able to beat Santana with a powerful header. As the ball was going towards the goal, the Italians started cheering their equalizer. But ladies and gentlemen, little Seppe Martens saved the day! He jumped towards the ball, risking his own life, and managed to clear it on the line!

We were finally able to break out again, and it almost led to the 3-1. The angle was a bit too sharp for Perun's shot though. Sanchez started dribbling again a bit later, and saw his powerful shot end on the crossbar. We then managed to keep the score at 2-1 (for the third game in a row), which was obviously positive. We could have finished it a bit sooner, but in the end all the people care about are the three points. Well done, boys!

On paper we should easily beat the Indians, who are at the bottom of the table with a painful 0/15. Let's see if we can actually do so on the pitch as well, with the following starting eleven:



The game started well for us, as bad passing play by Mumbai led to a big chance for an infiltrating Ottaviani. The Indian goalie kept the score 0-0 with a great save though. Mumbai started playing a bit better though and actually got a big chance around the fifteenth minute, but a superb foot reflex from Maes made sure we weren't losing. We were unable to get the ball away in the following corner, but once again Maes' feet saved the day. Bobson then joined an attack in the twentieth minute and gave a hard but precise pass to Garner-Hammerling Junior, but thanks to a good save from the Mumbai keeper our Swede couldn't score the first goal of the day.

The game was then really weird for a long time. Mumbai played very attacking but had some terrible passes and did not make use of situations where they had a man more than us. It definitely gave us some counter possiblities, but we also didn't use those enough. Nevertheless, just before half time, Washington gave us the lead! Ottaviani set up the counter, and after Martens had a lot of time to make sure his pass was how it had to be, the Belgian added another assist to his tally because our American striker blasted it into the goal. We were leading 0-1 at half time, and looking at the shots (2-6) that was deserved.

Second half more of the same as Mumbai was definitely dangerous, but unable to create a big chance. We on the other hand had two scoring possibilities with Garner-Hammerling Junior and Washington (both on each other's assist), but failed to strenghten our lead. Our three substitutes came on in the 62nd minute: Huber, Wall and Vertongen.

After the subs came on there were almost twenty minutes without any scoring possibilities. Unfortunately the first possibility was converted, as Mumbai profited from a badly positioned Vertongen to make the equalizer in the 82nd minute. Just when you would think we would have lost two stupid points against a low tier team, Garner-Hammerling Junior managed to win the man of the match award with not one but two goals! The first goal came from a Washington assist in the 88th minute, and as Mumbai started going all in our number one scored the 1-3 in extra time after Huber had given him the ball. So another Daily Destroyers win, which obviously makes the manager, fans and sponsors very happy. Game highlights and stats below as usual.

https://youtu.be/...

Mumbai City FC 1 - 3 Daily Destroyers
Galatasaray 1 - 2 Celta da Vigo
Tigres 2 - 1 Club Brugge
FC Basel 1 - 2 SC Braga
Dinamo Zagreb 1 - 0 Inter Miami
Seattle Sounders 3 - 2 Burnley
Wellington Phoenix 1 - 3 TSG Hoffenheim
Olympiakos 1 - 2 Boca Juniors
Feyenoord 0 - 2 Torino

And we're back for our seventh game of the season already, as we host number five Feyenoord in The Thunderdome. Our starting eleven looks like this:



Bobson, who's been playing really good recently, was the reason we got the first opportunity of the game with a good intervention. Sanchez found Huber's left foot, but the Swiss couldn't find the target in the fifth minute. Bad build up play by us led to a big chance for Feyenoord shortly after, but Santana saved us. He couldn't save us in the seventeenth minute though, as a Feyenoord counter went in after hitting the crossbar first. 0-1 for the visitors.

We tried to create danger, but had a hard time doing so. The next real opportunity of the game was for the Dutchmen just before half time, and after some quick passing play a one on one with Santana was slotted into the back of the net by the visitor's striker. 0-2 for Feyenoord at half time with shots 2 to 5 for the men in red and white, so we couldn't say it wasn't deserved.

They came close to the 0-3 in minute 51 as Perfetto couldn't keep up with his direct opponent, but Santana saved us. In fact we then countered quickly and got a chance after Huber found Sanchez and his shot was deflected on the post by the Feyenoord goalie. Huber himself then really gave us hope again, as he managed to score the 1-2 in the 59th minute after a wonderful through ball from Wall brought him eye in eye with the Feyenoord goalkeeper! Three subs came on after his goal: Brajkovic, Perun and Washington.

Both the Feyenoord left and right back were awarded yellow cards after fouls on Huber and Garner-Hammerling Junior respectively, but we had a hard time creating more chances except for a shot from distance from striker Torres. Feyenoord played very agressive and clearly fouled Wall with a dirty tackle in the 83rd minute, but not according to the referee. He let the game go through, which led to the 1-3 so close to the end of the game. We were unable to do anything back, and a pissed off Wall received a yellow card after tackling his direct opponent just before the final whistle.

Not our best game against Feyenoord as we lost 1-3, but we quickly have a shot at redemption against Celta da Vigo. Also a very decent team positioned around the top-5 at the moment, with Aspas being a very dangerous striker. This is our starting eleven:



The first fifteen minutes were very closed. Callahan had the first opportunity of the game, his shot from distance was saved quite easily by the Spanish goalie. A bad pass from the Celta defense then led to an interception by Perun three minutes later. The midfielder found Huber, who was fouled in the box of our opponents! The referee awarded us a penalty, which was put into the back of the net by striker Washington, 0-1! Celta da Vigo reacted with a shot from distance in the 25th minute, but their shot missed the target.

Perun and Huber were important again in the 33rd minute, as the Swiss received the ball from the god of thunder, quickly passing it to a free Washington. Washington did not hesitate for a moment, as he scored the 0-2! We were getting a bit too enthusiastic then, as six Celta player took on four Daily Destroyers just before half time and got a big chance. Maes came out of his goal at the right moment and saved the ball with a superb reflex. 0-2 at half time was a great result for us, Washington started dreaming about another hattrick.

Celta tried to score early in the second half, but Maes denied them a goal with a good save on a shot from distance. On the following corner Bobson cleared the ball from the line, although it was not really necessary as Maes would have easily saved it. As you can read the Spaniards were putting some pressure on us, but right then the Perun-Huber tandem once again delivered us a goal! Perun found Huber just outside of the Celta 16, and as the Swiss had a lot of space he decided to shoot and he left the goalie without a chance, 0-3 for Daily Destroyers in minute 59!



Three subs then came on the pitch: Macduff, Garner-Hammarling Junior and Ottaviani. In the 68th minute Martens used his pace to get away from his defender, but a good reflex from the Celta goalkeeper denied Garner-Hammerling Junior the 0-4. Washington came close to the 0-4 as well a couple of minutes later, and the fourth goal finally arrived in minute 76. Martens with a lot of space again as Celta was going all in, and just when Garner-Hammarling Junior thought he would score the 0-4, defender Hugo Mallo scored an own goal.

Celta really fell apart now as we got even more space. Martens could have scored the 0-5 in the 84th minute, but the Belgian saw Washington running free and gave the American his third goal of the game. 0-5! Celta couldn't do anything anymore, so a very nice 0-5 victory at Celta da Vigo was a great reaction to the loss at home against Feyenoord of last week. This was also the first clean sheet of goalie Maes, yet another reason to celebrate tonight.

Game stats and highlights:

https://youtu.be/...

Two games in the new ranking update, as some interesting stuff has happened:
* Tigres lost their first game against Braga, but bounced back with a win the game after, remaining in the lead.
* Zagreb also lost their first game of the season against Hoffenheim, who are slowly rising to the top of the table after a bad start of the season.
* Both Wellington Phoenix and Mumbai City FC scored their first point of the season, but together with Inter Miami they seem doomed to end at the bottom of the table.
* The top-6 has a gap of five points over number 7 Basel, which is interesting. As explained earlier. Top-2 promotes instantly, places 3 to 6 will fight for the last promotion spot in play-offs with a direct knock-out system.