Control1ed takes centre stage in thrilling North Anglia victory
North Anglia opened their International Series campaign with a commanding 6-2 victory, although two late goals took some of the shine off an otherwise dominant performance.
North Anglia made the breakthrough after 20 minutes when Neamelander found Control1ed, who finished to give his side the lead and reward their stronger start.
South Europe remained within one goal until the 53rd minute, when 1Eden_Hazard0 released playoffskai to double the advantage with a superb finish from distance. The second goal gave North Anglia greater control and forced South Europe to leave more space as they looked for a route back into the match.
That space became increasingly costly in the closing stages. Control1ed created the third goal for tsunayashiiro in the 75th minute before scoring twice more in quick succession, completing his hat-trick with assists from raaknet and KRUZARO.
His three goals came from three shots on target, while his assist took him to four direct goal contributions and earned him a perfect 10 rating. The performance gave North Anglia the cutting edge to turn a competitive opening hour into a one sided contest.
Kruzaro added the sixth in the 90th minute from substitute frutius’ pass, appearing to complete an emphatic victory. North Anglia finished with 13 shots on target and created eight chances, while South Europe goalkeeper miroslavRBX made six saves.
The closing stages were however less convincing. PADTOPHT replaced Smeagolmann in the 85th minute but was immediately exposed as Verdeley broke through to score South Europe’s first. North Anglia quickly reversed the substitution, bringing Smeagolmann back on, but Verdeley struck again from PLIONKA’s pass in stoppage time to complete a late brace.
Those goals did not change the outcome, but they denied North Anglia a clean sheet and highlighted a lapse in concentration after the result had already been secured.
North Anglia still leave with an important opening win and one of the tournament’s standout individual performances. South Europe must now respond after a match which remained competitive for more than an hour before slipping decisively away from them.