Gaming Matters: FIFA16 Wimbledon Career Season 4 Pt3

2019 Results

January

League – Manchester United – H – 1-0

Miranda 50 (VIDEO)

Scoring on your debut is the dream of most young players so Brazilian Gabriel Miranda can be pleased with his first match after coming on as a sub and scoring the winner against leaders Manchester United. Due to the fixture congestion over the Christmas period we played a largely third choice team. Dominic Iorfa released Jay Molyneux down the right and the former youth team player cut inside Phil Jones and Marcos Rojo to fire at goal but the shot hit the bar. The rebound landed at the feet of Miranda coming in from the left wing with Juan Mata hot on his heels and the youngster hit the ball first time into the open net.

1 – Manchester United – 40

2 – Tottenham Hotspur – 40

3 – Wimbledon – 38

4 – Southampton – 33

5 – Manchester City – 30

6 – Newcastle United – 30

7 – West Ham United – 30

8 – Chelsea – 29

9 – Arsenal - 29

F A Cup – Southampton – H – 0-3

We were beaten fair and square by an impressive Southampton side and now need to focus on the remaining league games. Graziano Pelle opened the scoring on 36 minutes with a bicycle kick before Victor Wanyama and Saido Mane added two more late in the game. It would have been nice to have recreated the Wimbledon FA Cup win of 1988 but in all fairness the loss eased any fixture congestion and allowed us to go with the cliché of 'focussing on the league'.

League – Everton – A – 0-2

Losing in the cup is one thing but if we're chasing a league title or even top four finish then losing at home is not acceptable. Seamus Coleman opening the scoring for Everton on 38 minutes with a shot from outside the box. In the dying minutes second choice centre back Edgar Lezcano fouled in the box and Tom Cleverly scored the penalty that secured the win.

1 – Tottenham Hotspur – 41

2 – Manchester United – 40

3 – Wimbledon – 38

4 – Southampton – 36

5 – Newcastle United – 33

6 – West Ham United – 33

7 – Manchester City – 33

8 – Chelsea – 32

9 – Arsenal - 30

League – Liverpool – H – 3-1

Saint-Maximin 59 (VIDEO)

Saint-Maximin 65pen (VIDEO)

Saint-Maximin 71 (VIDEO)

Liverpool came into this tie lying 15th in the table but looked ready to cause an upset when Christian Benteke scored in the 45th minute. Saint-Maximin scored a second half hat-trick in just 12 minutes to swing the result and all three points back to Wimbledon though. The dominance was there for all to see as Liverpool scored with their only shot while we had nine shots of which eight were on target. For the French striker's first goal Pucciarelli passed into the box where Saint-Maximin turned Martin Skrtel to beat Simon Mignolet with a shot to the keeper's left. From the kick-off Pucciarelli nicked the ball off of the Liverpool attack and charged at goal where he was brought down by Skrtel. The foul was in the box with a good chance of scoring but the Slovakian only received a yellow card. It wasn't the greatest of penalties as Saint-Maximin went close to the middle but high while Mignolet dived low. Pucciarelli was again involved in the third as he found Bright Addae bursting into the box. Addae checked and turned Skrtel to see Saint-Maximin unmarked in front of goal. His pass was inch perfect and the striker with the red gloves sealed his hat-trick.

1 – Tottenham Hotspur – 44

2 – Manchester United – 43

3 – Wimbledon – 41

4 – Southampton – 36

5 – Newcastle United – 34

6 – Manchester City – 34

7 – Arsenal – 33

8 – West Ham United – 33

9 – Chelsea - 32

League – Southampton – A – 0-0

That match against Liverpool would be our only win in six games. This goalless draw with Southampton (a battle of third versus fourth) was the third of those six games and helped put United and Spurs in the driving seat for the title race. It was a bad day all round as not only was key midfielder Joey Pelupessy sent off after just 21 minutes we also lost Saint-Maximin to an injury which would see him sidelined for the next two months.

1 – Manchester United – 46

2 – Tottenham Hotspur – 44

3 – Wimbledon – 42

4 – Southampton – 37

5 – Newcastle United – 35

6 – Manchester City – 35

7 – Arsenal – 33

8 – West Ham United – 33

9 – Chelsea – 32

10 – Everton - 32

February

League – Swansea City – H – 2-2

Ojo 35 (VIDEO)

Pucciarelli 55 (VIDEO)

Our poor run continued with a home draw against lowly Swansea as we conceded a last minute winner. We took the lead twice, first through Ojo in the first half and then through Pucciarelli ten minutes into the second. For the opener Pucciarelli spotted the left winger open on a counter attack and released him into space to shoot across Lukasz Fabianski to the far post. The second goal came as Freddy Sears sent the Italian free on the right of the box before he dribbled past Neil Taylor and Jordi Amat to score. Lucas equalised first for them on 43 minutes and in the 90th minute Wimbledon right back Dominic Iorfa gave away a free kick on the right hand edge of the box. It was a tackle from behind and he became the second Don in two games to be dismissed. From the resulting free kick the ball was lofted into the box and Spanish striker Ager Aketxe, purchased from Athletic Bilbao, headed in to share the points.

League – Chelsea – A – 0-3

Things went from bad to worse with our biggest defeat of the season against 11th place Chelsea. Loic Remy scored twice and Matic added one with a header. It was a performance to write off, regroup and start again. United were now seven points clear of us as we sat in third with Arsenal suddenly looming behind in fourth. The Gunners were in ninth place and nine points behind us at the start of January

1 – Manchester United – 50

2 – Tottenham Hotspur – 48

3 – Wimbledon – 43

4 – Arsenal - 42

5 – Southampton – 40

6 – West Ham United – 37

7 – Manchester City – 36

8 – Everton – 36

9 – Watford – 36

10 – Chelsea - 35

League – Leicester City – H – 2-2

Rashford 25 (VIDEO)

Commons 63pen (VIDEO)

Due to playing two matches in a short space of time we played the B team for this match so I wasn't too disappointed with a draw against 13th place Leicester. Marcus Rashford gave us the lead on 25 minutes, cutting in from the left side of the box to score near post before Danny Drinkwater equalised four minutes later with a shot going in off the underside of the bar. Andrej Kramaric gave Foxes the lead on the stroke of half time with a solo run from the right wing to cut in and score. Kris Commons sealed the draw with a penalty in the second half after former Eintracht Frankfurt centre back brought down Rubio Rubin.

1 – Manchester United – 53

2 – Tottenham Hotspur – 49

3 – Arsenal -45

4 – Wimbledon – 44

5 – Southampton – 41

6 – Manchester City – 39

7 – Everton – 39

8 – Watford – 39

League – Crystal Palace – H – 2-1

Valencia 59

Valencia 84 (VIDEO)

With results not going our way recently and our gameplay becoming too predictable I switched the formation to 3-2-3-2. We were also suffering from the sale of Ndlovu with Enner Valencia yet to hit form and losing Saint-Maximin through injury. This way the support to the attack would be increased and (hopefully) more creative. The system had three centre backs, primarily Christian Kabasele, Andrew Farrell and Sergio Ayala. The centre of the pitch would continue to be controlled by Joey Pelupessy and William Vainqueur for most games with in front of them a right winger, left winger and the new role of central attacking midfielder. The right wing was shared between Brecht Dejaegere and Alvaro Vadillo while on the left it was Lucas Piazon and Sheyi Ojo. I didn't have a natural pair of attacking midfielders as I hadn't planned for the role with my 4-4-2 formation although I did have Kris Commons. As well as the 35 year-old Scot I tried using Manuel Pucciarelli there but he did seem better in the striker role alongside Valencia, Marcus Rashford or Rubio Rubin.

The win against 19th place Palace was the first trial of this formation and it helped Valencia score a brace to secure the win and turn around the result after Harris Seferovic's 17th minute opener. His second goal was a late winner as Vainqueur found Commons in his new playmaker goal on the edge of the box. The Scottish veteran had time to pick a pass for Valencia as the Ecuadorian moved into space, collected the ball and turned to shoot past Wayne Hennessey.

1 – Manchester United – 56

2 – Tottenham Hotspur – 50

3 – Wimbledon – 47

4 – Arsenal – 46

5 – Southampton – 44

6 – Manchester City – 42

7 – Everton – 40

8 – Watford – 39

9 – West Ham United – 37

10 – Chelsea - 36