R. Union St-Gilloise B
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On Saturday, 25 March, for the third time in around one month, FCI faces R. Union Saint-Gilloise.
FCI starts with intensity, dominating the match for most of the first half and forcing Union to play in their defensive midfield. Naomi and Liza maintain constant pressure on Union’s defence throughout the first half. This attitude was the weapon to strike Union. The first goalscoring opportunity for FCI comes from Naomi. Naomi steals the ball to the opponent’s defence, but her shot goes out for a few centimetres. The pressure of FCI continues, and once again, Naomi steals the ball from a Union defender, but this time Liza tries to score. Also, on this occasion, the goal for the advantage fades. When the ball is on Naomi’s feet, Union knows that danger is about to come. And, at the 14’, Naomi finds, with a brilliant pass, Antonia, who calmly controls the ball and scores her second goal of the season. FCI understands that the time is right to attack and score the second goal. Due to the FCI offensive pressure, the Union’s defender is forced to pass the ball back to the goalkeeper, who, surprised, does not control the ball that rolls into the net, making 2-0 for FCI at the 36’. Eva’s hunger to arrive at every ball costs her a yellow card. At the end of the first half, Union raises its head and scores in quick succession the two goals that equalise the match.
Union enters the pitch for the second half to win the game. FCI enters the pitch to repeat the superb first half. Despite the Union’s offensive projection, the outstanding defensive quality of FCI fights long and hard to protect the result. But FCI is not only there to defend and does not disdain to create scoring opportunities to win the game. The clearest runs for goal come from Liza and Ninja, but the attempts do not materialise. The second half finishes with no goal, concluding the match with the result of 2-2.
After every game, we say it was the best match of the FCI season. In the end, it is just the improvement process the team is experiencing, learning from every game played, that brought us to gain one legendary point against Union Saint-Gilloise. Before, we were cheering for every shot done; now, we can cheer for the goals scored, which are becoming a constant in every match.
Next weekend, the season will come full circle. The league’s first match was against R. Union Lasne Ohain, and it will finish against it… we hope with a different result.
The game against R. Union St. Gilloise B, played on Saturday, 18 February, has inaugurated the frenzied and intense FCI week.
The same script is followed for the entire match. In a nutshell, Union attacking and FCI defending.
The extended version says that, during the first half, despite the skilled and fast opponent, FCI maintains a solid defence trying to cover on the wings and sweep up all the balls arriving in the middle. However, FCI pushes forwards, fearless of playing its own game and not surrendering to Union. As in many previous matches, FCI creates danger when it can find its wingers. In this circumstance, Antonia sneaks up on Union’s defence sitting face-to-face with the goalie. Unfortunately, Union’s defence arrives just in time to ruin Antonia’s moment. Another chance to score comes from Patigol, that hesitates to shoot and loses the right timing. In the end, the Union’s attack produces two goals in the first half.
As mentioned before, the second half continues along the lines of the first. Union keeps attacking and scores two more goals. With constant focus and intensity, FCI does not fall apart and tries to break through Union’s defensive line. In the second half, there were no clear scoring opportunities for FCI, but good pressure was put on the opponent’s defence. The match ends 4-0 for Union on completion of a titanic challenge for FCI.
The match went as expected, with Union dominating the game and, in the end, winning. After the final whistle, none of the FCI players looked like they had just lost 4-0. Losing is never pleasant, but we knew we had an excellent performance and lots of fun. We also had double the sandwiches (but I still do not know if it is something positive) and, for the first time in the season, (partially) free food at Funky. What a great Saturday night!
A challenging cup game is coming on Wednesday, but we can’t help but think of Maz’s interview coming up this Tuesday. Stay tuned!