Kasali Captures Hat-Trick to Keep Central in Promotion Contention

Chris Tomkinson’s side beat 5th-placed AFC Monton 5-2 to remain in promotion contention. Manchester Central put in perhaps their best display of the season so far in a sun-drenched afternoon at Wright Robinson College, with a Fuad Kasali hat-trick, Junior Silva bicycle kick and a sensational lob by Omar Khochtali securing all three points.

Team News

Central made three changes following last weekend’s defeat to Astley and Tyldesley with Dan Dolling handed the captain’s armband as Elliot Regan was unavailable for the fixture. Tawab Djankpata’s suspension meant that Kieran Taylor took his starting space in midfield, whilst Tomkinson decided to swap Zak Bell for Chris Wilson in central defence.

Central: Daniel Whiting, Rory Robertson (Zak Bell, 70), Jordan Greer, Michael Taiwo, Dan Dolling (C), Chris Wilson, Kieran Taylor, Kaine Martin, Fuad Kasali (Omar Khochtali, 83), Ruben Lawal (Aria Asqari, 81), Junior Silva.

Match Report

With Central lining up in their usual 5-2-3 formation, the game had an entertaining start, with both sides having chances in the opening minutes. It wasn’t long until the first goal. Central won a corner in the 10th minute, with Kasali converting after a tense goalmouth scramble ensued.

Kasali was denied an early brace as his attempt in the 13th minute was controversially ruled offside. However, thankfully for Central, it was not long until Kasali doubled his side’s lead as he broke through the Monton defence and rifled his 20th goal of the season into the roof of the net.

Monton soon looked for a response. As the opposition grew into the game, Whiting was forced to pull off a crucial diving save just ten minutes after the second goal.

In the 25th minute, the away side saw the first booking of the game, with their captain receiving a yellow for bringing Kasali down on the edge of the box. Minutes later, Monton saw a second yellow, as one of their midfielders was branded a yellow for a challenge on a Central player just inside their own half.

At the mid-point of the first half, Central had dominated the game, playing fast passing football. Despite the sweltering weather, the Tomkinson’s side had mostly nullified the opposition’s attack with a high intensity pressing system whilst looking to exploit them on the counter by progressing the ball using the channels as the central duo made runs in and behind the Monton defence.

Long balls from Whiting was also causing Monton problems in the opening minutes, with the ball flicked on by target man Ruben Lawal into the path of lightning quick Kasali.

However, by the 30th minute, Monton had established themselves in the game. During their mid-game purple-patch, Whiting made another fantastic diving save. The resulting counterattack saw Central break forwards, with Junior Silva’s thunderbolt tipped onto the bar by the opposition goalkeeper – a save which earned the praise of manager Chris Tomkinson during the next break in play.

After Whiting received Central’s first yellow of the afternoon for unknown reasons, Monton were soon awarded a penalty as their attack was disrupted as their player was brought down just inside the box. The opposition number 11 converted the penalty in the 40th minute.

In the 44th minute, Rory Robertson went down following an elbow to the head. The resulting free kick was driven into the box from deep in the Monton half, with Kaine Martin nodding it home. However, Central suffered another controversial decision as the goal was ruled out.

Just before half time, in the 2nd minute of injury time, Martin was brought down on the left of the opposition’s half, just outside of the box. This time it was Silva who whipped in the ball; however, his attempt was saved by the goalkeeper.

Central headed into half time 2-1 up, having been very dominant in the first 45 minutes – despite Monton’s strong 20-minute showing. Tomkinson expressed his delight during the team talk, as the players recuperated some of the water that had been lost in the hot spring sun, saying “I’m very pleased, that was possibly the best half of the season so far. If anything, we should have had three more goals – even their keeper has said to Ruben [Lawal] that they were onside!”

Michael Taiwo

Just minutes into the second half, Central had another opportunity on goal as Whiting’s goal kick sailed over the opposition’s back line and found Kasali beyond the last man. Monton’s goalkeeper pulled off a dive to block Kasali’s run into the box any further, thwarting his latest attempt to find a third goal.

In the 50th minute, Central received their second booking of the game, with Wilson shown a yellow for a foul. Monton’s free kick pulled just wide of the post.

Next, it was Silva’s chance for a shot on goal. Taylor punted the ball forward, with Kasali chasing it onto the left-hand side before crossing it to his teammate in the box. However, Silva’s shot drifted just wide.

As the game progressed into the 60th minute, Monton’s strengths were showing. A physical team that is also tidy on the ball, they looked to exploit the wide areas of the pitch to drive forwards before looking to cut inside and create opportunities.

This resulted in the opposition left-back making a swerving shot from just outside the box, which led to a phenomenal save from Whiting. The Central ‘keeper was soon forced to pull off yet another stop, with Monton breaking forwards in the 62nd minute via a long ball which was beautifully controlled by their striker.

The second half had a much slower start, despite the chances which both teams had created, with the flow of the game disrupted by a myriad of stoppages for fouls, offsides and set pieces – breaks that many of the players may have been happy to have given the stifling conditions.

In the 70th minute, Tomkinson made his first substation of the game, switching Robertson for Zak Bell, who slotted in at centre-back as Michael Taiwo swapped to right wing-back. This change prompted Central to attack at break-neck speed as Silva collected the ball in midfield and placed it directly through the Monton back line. This ball found Kasali on the left side of the box, who calmly slotted it into the back of the net to complete his third hat-trick of 2022.

Just two minutes later, the home side nearly bagged a fourth. Lawal was brought down just inside the opposition half, with the ball delivered into the box from the resulting free kick. After a scrappy couple of seconds, the ball eventually found Taylor on the edge of the D, however, his attempt curled just past the wrong side of the post.

Kasali was booked in the 76th minute as he disputed that he was in an offside position, resulting in him being taken off just minutes later and replaced by Khochtali. However, this was not before Kasali attempted to bag his fourth of the afternoon with a blistering shot that hit the side-netting.

After a period of sustained opposition attacks, which required Whiting to pull off another crucial save, the referee awarded yet another penalty to Monton. This resulted in a booking for Taiwo before the opposition number 11 converted his second penalty of the day at the 80-minute mark.

As the game entered its dying minutes, the game became increasingly scrappy with both sides desperate to bring something home from the fixture. The incredibly exciting game saw yet another yellow brandished, this time towards a Monton player. However, this would not be the last bit of action in the fixture.

With Lawal replaced by Asqari, as Tomkinson made his final substitution of the afternoon, Central found yet another gear.

In the 89th minute, Dan Dolling punched a free-kick into the Monton box from deep in the opposition’s half. The exquisite ball found Silva who bicycle kicked the ball straight at the goalkeeper – who had been replaced for an outfield substitute just minutes before presumably due to injury. Unfortunately, the new stopper dropped the ball between his legs and into the net to make the scoreline 4-2.

As the game drew to a close, Khochtali became the ultimate impact substitute as he ruthlessly dinked the ball over the goalkeeper from the edge of the box to score Central’s fifth goal and secure all three points for the club.