1740 Valinor Time:
Good evening, and welcome to the second ever Tar-Eldar Network Television double minute-by-minute match report.
1741:
We’re reporting to you live from just outside the city of Swanhaven, beside whose harbour is anchored the Tol Eressëa Mobile Stadium. This would be the stadium’s last stop in this year’s Arda Cup competition, but many football fans (count us among them) hope that the stadium would be put to use again next year.
1744:
The Sea vs Minas Tirith would be the last game played in the mobile stadium, unless the Sea manage to win Group F. So what are the chances of that happening? If the other game ends in a low-scoring draw, and they beat Minas Tirith by three or more goals
and score at least three goals more than the teams from the other game, they take first place. On the other hand, any result other than a Sea victory would eliminate them.
1747:
Provided that the Sea win their tie (and analysts as well as betting agencies are unanimous that they will), the loser of the other fixture would be eliminated. A draw would favour Nargothrond, having a superior goal difference (+3) to Tirion (+2). In case of a draw, the Sea would need at least a two-goal victory to have a chance of advancing.
1749:
Nargothrond vs Tirion would be played in Alqualondë’s Seaside Stadium. Alqualondë Arena has been opened to visitors, and both games would be shown live on the arena’s giant screens.
1751:
Expect both the Sea and Tirion to be heavily supported in both of their games, with their fanbases much closer to the stadiums than Nargothrond or Minas Tirith’s. Some supporter groups of the latter two teams have come across the Sea aboard the mobile stadium, though, and Finarfin’s folk would probably be split, rooting for their lord in Tirion and his son in Nargothrond.
1754:
The projected formation sheets for both games:
[
The Sea in white and blue; Minas Tirith in silver and black.]
~*~*~
[
Tirion in teal and yellow; Nargothrond in green and yellow.]
1755:
There are five minutes left before the games begin, and a roar goes around both stadiums as the teams walk into the pitch. Noticeably absent is the captain’s armband on Denethor II, probably as a result of his, ahem, interesting post-game comments during the previous matchday; Mardil is wearing it this evening.
1757:
At the Seaside Stadium, the crowd applaud warmly as Finarfin and Finrod share a hug near the technical area. Meanwhile Finwë chats with his grandson Orodreth and great-granddaughter Finduilas.
1759:
With a minute left before the start of the matches, teams take up position on their respective pitches. The Sea field an offensive 4-2-1-3, which is understandable given their need to score a lot to have a chance of going into the knockout rounds.
1’ The opening whistle is blown.
5’ Seaside Stadium
It is predictable that Nargothrond are controlling possession, considering their numerical advantage in the centre of the pitch, but Tirion are surprisingly giving Nienor and Finduilas time on the ball, pressing aggressively only when Glaurung receives the ball; Anairë and Eldalótë are doing their best to keep the dragon from turning to face the goal.
6’ Tol Eressëa Stadium
Meanwhile, Minas Tirith start with much energy. Éomer and Mardil close down Tar-Ciryatan and Voronwë whenever they have the ball, preventing them from passing to Vëantur.
12’ Seaside Stadium
Nargothrond vs Tirion is turning into a slog. With Glaurung tightly marked, and Caranthir doing a good job on Gwindor, Nargothrond have no way of getting forward. Despite their dominance in possession, they haven’t created any chance yet. To their credit, neither have Tirion. And a draw suits them better than it does the home side.
14’ Tol Eressëa Stadium
The Sea have created the first chance of the evening. With Mardil helping in the midfield, the Sea right-back Uinen is left unmarked. She had time to move forward with the ball and deliver a cross for Tar-Minastir, but he couldn’t get a clear header due to Ecthelion II’s marking and Denethor II easily gathers the tame shot.
20’ Seaside Stadium
Goal Mahtan! (1-0 Tirion)
Tirion draw first blood! It was a classic Tirion goal: Rúmil beat his marker Barahir to the byline, got a cross in for Finwë to knock down on to Mahtan’s path. The Noldo smith had enough space for a curler that evaded Orodreth’s diving save.
21’ Seaside Stadium
The Tirion fans are chanting and cheering. They are clearly unused to being left behind in the group stages and relishing the idea of their return to the knockout stage. Meanwhile, Nargothrond supporters must be worried that Tirion scored on their very first attempt. Would their defence hold up against the best strike partnership in the group?
23’ Seaside Stadium
One advantage Nargothrond have in this tie is the amount space their midfielders can get. Since Glaurung is a few metres higher up the pitch than Nienor and Finduilas, Anairë and Eldalótë’s marking of the dragon has given the two a lot of time on the ball. Mahtan is essentially Tirion’s third central midfielder, but he cannot cover both of them at once. Nienor and Finduilas exploited this by passing their way around Tirion’s midfielders. They managed to advance deep into the teeth of Tirion’s defence; Finduilas’s drive from twenty-five metres was barely tipped away by her grandfather Finarfin.
26’ Seaside Stadium
Eldalótë moved a little forward to track Nienor’s runs. This leaves Anairë all alone to deal with the Father of Dragons. Let’s see if he would exploit his newfound freedom.
28’ Seaside Stadium
Yellow card Amras.
And so he does. With Nienor and Finduilas finding their way forward blocked, they passed the ball back to Bëor, who played an accurate long ball for Glaurung. The dragon easily turned on Anairë and stormed forward in possession, forcing Amras to stop Glaurung with a cynical trip.
29’ Seaside Stadium
Goal Glaurung! (1-1 Nargothrond)
While the Sea are still unable to get on the score sheet, the game in Alqualondë is tied. Finrod took the free kick, which silkily flew over the Tirion wall before dipping straight into his father’s path. Unfortunately Finarfin spilled his save into the path of Glaurung, who snouted the ball past him to bag the equaliser.
31’ Tol Eressëa Stadium
Goal Tar-Meneldur! (1-0 The Sea)
Finally, the Sea score. Vëantur had to drop deeper to receive a pass from Tar-Ciryatan, who was being hounded by Mardil. But when he got the ball, it took him a little more than a second to notice Tar-Meneldur’s run into the channel between Cirion and Ecthelion II then play a millimetre-perfect through ball for him. All it took then was a simple side-footed finish past Denethor II and the Sea are finally in contention. They still need to catch up to Tirion’s +2 goal difference, though.
32’ Seaside Stadium
With news of the Sea’s goal, the match between Tirion and Nargothrond becomes a little cagier. Losing the game would mean elimination, unless Minas Tirith can get an equaliser, which is a tall order to put it mildly.
35’ Tol Eressëa Stadium
But the Stewards
are trying to claim an equaliser. After some neat wing play between Cirion and Mardil, Cirion found space to cross for Boromir I. But Ossë calmly heads the ball away before the Minas Tirith forward could get it.
37’ Seaside Stadium
Nargothrond are playing keep ball, knowing that have the better goal difference and would advance if all three teams finish with five points. But Tirion are fighting to win the ball back; Aredhel dropped to the midfield to pressure Bëor in possession.
41’ Seaside Stadium
Goal Aredhel! (2-1 Tirion)
Bëor dithered in possession, and Aredhel easily dispossessed him. She then passed the ball to Mahtan before turning and sprinting behind Baran and Arminas. Mahtan dinked the ball over the top of Nargothrond’s defenders, and Aredhel controlled the pass before Orodreth could clear it then slotted home into an empty net.
45’ The halftime whistle is blown.
The last four minutes must have been a nightmare for Nargothrond. The home crowd is really turning up the noise and the team on the pitch is responding by defending with gusto. As things stand, Tirion and the Sea would advance to the round of sixteen, leaving Nargothrond behind in the group stage. But Finrod’s squad have already grabbed a late equaliser before, and surely Tirion must bear in mind what happened to the Sea when they met Nargothrond.
In the other fixture, the Sea must be frustrated, scoring but once against a team with nothing to play for. They would hope that the second half would be kinder to them in terms of goals, since they shouldn’t fully trust Tirion’s lead to last until the end of the game.
46’ The second half begins.
A single goal can still change the fortunes of three teams in Group F. Which two teams will advance at the end of ninety minutes?
48’ Tol Eressëa Stadium
Goal Tar-Minastir! (2-0 The Sea)
With the second half only three minutes old, the Sea already doubled their lead. Cirion was caught out of position when Voronwë stole the ball from Éomer. Noticing Tar-Minastir run behind the empty left-back zone, Voronwë played a long diagonal to the Númenórean forward. Tar-Minastir then fired a near-impossible curler from an acute angle before Ecthelion II could close him down.
49’ Tol Eressëa Stadium
I think Tar-Minastir violated the laws of physics. He was about a metre from the byline when he took that shot.
55’ Seaside Stadium
Yellow card Baran.
The first High-King of the Noldor took an elbow to the face from Baran while challenging for a long ball. Baran apologised to Finwë, but he should probably think of apologising to his teammates more. He has conceded a free kick thirty-five yards from goal, a distance Mahtan or Aredhel could easily cover.
56’ Seaside Stadium
Superb free kick, and an equally impressive save. Mahtan curled his free kick past the Nargothrond wall. Orodreth was equal to it, however, staying on his feet until he saw the ball swerve away. He dived at full stretch to punch it away, and the rebound fell to Bëor, who hoofed it clear.
57’ Seaside Stadium
Yellow card Caranthir.
The situation almost resembled that of Gondolin’s winning goal; Gwindor took Bëor’s long clearance and attacked Tirion’s disorganised defence. With Glaurung romping through the middle, a backpedalling Caranthir was unsure whether to show the Nargothrond winger inside or to the touchline. When Gwindor made his move to take Caranthir on, the Tirion left-back deliberately tripped him.
Caranthir might rue the booking more than the conceded free kick—he was able to handle Gwindor when he’s in front of him, but has trouble containing him when forced to run backwards.
58’ Seaside Stadium
Finrod’s free kick slammed into the wall, and Irimë booted it clear.
65’ Tol Eressëa Stadium
Yellow card Tar-Ciryatan.
The Númenórean was penalised for a handball, using his upper arm to control a defensive header against Éomer.
66’ Tol Eressëa Stadium
Hyarmendacil got a finger on Mardil’s dipping free kick and tipped it over the crossbar. Corner to Minas Tirith.
67’ Tol Eressëa Stadium
Goal Éomer! (2-1 The Sea)
Minas Tirith finally score a goal in the tournament! Telumehtar took the corner, and Mardil was able to win the header against Voronwë, flicking it to an unmarked Éomer, who met the ball with a ferocious overhead kick. The goal conceded won’t cost the Sea much so long as Tirion is winning the other match, but would this come back to haunt them?
74’ Seaside Stadium
Nargothrond knows that if they can get the ball past the midfield to Glaurung, Gwindor, or Finrod, they have a chance of scoring. Barahir briefly left his zone to play wall to Nienor, who got the ball quickly to Glaurung. The dragon easily shrugged off Anairë’s challenge and charged forward in possession. As Amrod stepped forward from the back line to stop him, Gwindor ran into the space, closely tailed by Caranthir. His one-touch drive from Glaurung’s through ball deflected off Caranthir’s toes and out of bounds. Corner kick Nargothrond.
75’ Seaside Stadium
Goal Finrod! (2-2 Nargothrond)
It didn’t take more than eight minutes for the Sea to regret Éomer’s goal. Finduilas played a short corner kick to Finrod, who stutter-faked his way through the heart of Tirion’s defence before slotting in a low shot past Finarfin.
76’ Tol Eressëa Stadium
The Sea know that if they can get a goal, or either one of Nargothrond or Tirion score, they could still advance, so they are calmly trying to break down Minas Tirith’s defence. But Éomer’s goal seemed to encourage the Stewards, and, urged on by their small band of supporters, they smartly repulse any attempted Sea attack before launching their own counterattack.
80’ Seaside Stadium
With ten minutes left to play the energy level in the Seaside Stadium seemed to have dropped. Nargothrond are content to play keep ball in the midfield, and Tirion are surprisingly not closing them down as energetically as they did before, perhaps with half an eye on the scoreboard. A Sea goal would be dangerous to their chances of advancing, but under current circumstances they would advance as second seed.
84’ Tol Eressëa Stadium
The Sea have abandoned calm precision attacks and are trying the battering ram. They are trying to win corner kicks, before bringing up Ulmo and Ossë to win headers. But Denethor II and the defenders are up to the task of denying them.
85’ Seaside Stadium
It’s as if Tirion remembered that the second seed would be playing the imperious Real Valinor in the round of sixteen, so they now tried to win the ball back from Nargothrond. Nienor and Finduilas were now liberated from the need to attack, and they drifted around looking for space before receiving a pass from each other. Tirion could not keep up with their pass-and-move tactic.
87’ Tol Eressëa Stadium
The Sea must have had about as many shots in that seven-minute spell as they have had the whole game, but Minas Tirith also showed a bit of fang during that span. Boromir I received a long clearance from Firefoot, but fluffed his lines when Hyarmendacil left his goal to close him down.
90’ The full time whistle is blown.
The two teams who failed to advance last year are now through to the last sixteen, and they two teams who advanced last year are left in the group stage.
Finrod, having twice saved his team from defeat, is now being carried off the field in honour; the Nargothrond supporters applaud them off the pitch. Tirion also receive a standing ovation from their fans. They hope that, having improved greatly from last year, they could take the game to Real this time around.
Minas Tirith were not expecting much, having been drawn into a group of First and Second Age legends. Some fans would find it mildly amusing that the Man whom Denethor II called useless scored their only goal in the tournament.
And as for the Sea… paying a nine-digit wage bill only to be left in the group stage must be painful. After their high point of keeping a clean sheet against FC Valinor in a friendly, they sort of slowly spiralled downward. Their primary problem was the lack of aggression going forward, since the group stage is more about scoring goals than keeping clean sheets. They were eliminated by the narrowest of margins against above-average opposition, so one is unsure whether they would trim some wages or try to improve the squad. It would be a difficult offseason for Ulmo and company.
Exit interviews shall be provided in
The Matchday episode next week.
Nargothrond 2-2 Tirion
GOALS:
20, 0-1 Mahtan (Finwë)
29, 1-1 Glaurung (Finrod)
41, 1-2 Aredhel (Mahtan)
75, 2-2 Finrod (Finduilas)
Total Shots:
15-18
Shots On Target:
6-8
YELLOW CARDS:
1-2
NGR: Baran
TIR: Amras, Caranthir
~*~*~
Minas Tirith 1-2 The Sea
GOALS:
31, 0-1 Tar-Meneldur (Vëantur)
48, 0-2 Tar-Minastir (Voronwë)
67, 1-2 Éomer (Mardil)
Total Shots:
10-11
Shots On Target:
3-5
YELLOW CARDS:
1-1
MTI: Eärnil
SEA: Tar-Ciryatan
Code:
-------------- W-D-L Pts GD
[1]Nargothrond 1-2-0 5 +3
[2]Tirion 1-2-0 5 +2
The Sea 1-2-0 5 +1
Minas Tirith 0-0-3 0 -6
W-D-L: win-draw-loss
GD: goal difference
[1]: team secured first seed
[2]: team secured second seed