mironi 0 - 9 Melnais (286713740)

The 12000 fans in attendance at Arēna Rīga were roasting in the hot sun. Thilo Magin was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Yann Briet and Otto Schneider. mironi started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Strazdin - Pļaviņš, Andersons, Brass, Libonas - Bisenieks, Shishkin, Jūdelsons, Čipāns - Sharafetdinov, Redkin.

A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Melnais. Starters: Kudiņš - Muheim, Pexider, Faccio, Mihálik - Hénaut, Bernaerts, Caçapava, Veldt - Aguilar, Fuhlsbüttel.

The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Melnais's I. Aguilar after 19 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 0 - 1 lead. 30 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 2 as I. Aguilar finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. The referee showed mironi's A. Bisenieks the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. H. Muheim of Melnais had to be helped off the pitch as an injury meant he was unable to finish the game. A. Barinskis came in to finish the match. A. Barinskis's lack of experience almost gave mironi a goal after 36 minutes, but the shot went right into the keeper's arms. With 39 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed D. Fuhlsbüttel of Melnais to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 0 - 3. After 42 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave A. Barinskis a chance to increase the lead for Melnais, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 0 - 4. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Melnais lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. Halftime score was 0 - 4. Melnais enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 89 percent of possession.

It was a hot and sunny day, and several players seemed worn out. Maybe this was why I. Aguilar found an unusual amount of space for his snappy footwork. The Melnais free kick 53 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But was this actually a plan? The ball landed at the feet of D. Pexider, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 0 - 5! After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, A. Redkin got himself booked. The manager of mironi was not happy. D. Fuhlsbüttel of Melnais took advantage of a mistake on the home side's right after 62 minutes which increased the away team's lead to 0 - 6. D. Fuhlsbüttel increased Melnais's lead to 0 - 7 with a superb free kick strike that flew in just under the far top corner. That made three goals for D. Fuhlsbüttel and he was marked down for the hat trick. After 76 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for I. Aguilar who increased Melnais's lead to 0 - 8. At that, I. Aguilar was noted down for a hat trick! 79 minutes in, Melnais's A. Barinskis received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. D. Fuhlsbüttel received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 80 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 0 - 9. The Melnais fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. Possession in this half belonged to Melnais, who controlled the ball 91 percent of the time.

mironi's best player was G. Pļaviņš. However, V. Strazdin made a disastrous appearance. Melnais's top performer was clearly I. Aguilar. On the other hand, A. Barinskis's play was disheartening. The match ends 0 - 9.