The Vargas tandem shines as Zagreb blanks Lisboa
By: Drew Peacock

Lisboa, in their post La Formula era, have been finding it harder and harder to get points. Since the break-up, the club has only won three points from their last three matches with draws against Norden (8th), Paris (12th), and Berlin (11th). Their rivals this evening, Zagreb, have brought in a new midfielder. Hugo Vargas was promoted from the youth ranks at the club after his cousin, Leonardo Vargas, made his debut in matchday 8.

Early in the 1st half, Knull found himself knocking on the door to break the game open, but was denied by a wonderful tackle from Adolf Lund. Not long after, Knull broke free a second time, sending in a cross to Cagatay Yilmaz, but he was unable to find the net, his header off the post. After those stops, the momentum shifted to Zagreb's favor and the Croatian side mounted several attacking plays.

After failing to clear their lines, Lisboa found themselves matched up 2 vs 1 with Bebe Barry, but that didn't matter as Frankenbarry found the net anyway, Zagreb taking the lead 1-0 at 23 minutes played. Zagreb continued to play on the front-foot for the remainder of the half, but the score stayed 1-0 into half-time.

Right away in the second half, Zagreb came out with the same intensity as before, getting a second goal in the 50th minute. It was a quick counter-attack that was able to find Akiyama Hernandez with space on the left flank, his cross to Barry was a good one, but the Big Cheeto Head's header went off the crossbar. Super-sub Marcus Neagu was able to recover the rebound and find Leonardo Vargas, who slotted it past Bulka Bango Bongo to give the home side the lead; 2-0.

Lisboa have to feel like they should have gotten more from the match, but Zagreb did just about everything right on the defensive end tonight, and their experience served them well.