Maledives_FC 2 - 4 mero (300537516)

65500 spectators had come to Maledives_FC Arena this cloudy day. Lionel Canovas was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Muzaffer Satı and Ernesto Garafoni. People from all over St. Gallen had joined up for the derby. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Maledives_FC. The following players took the field: Werner - Niedermann, Leoni, Wyrobek - Keist, Valdinoci, Iannone, Ximénez, Mattfeld - Ataol, Circes.

mero started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. Lineup: Ohana - Rousson, Römer, Ueberschär, Märki - Carrière, Reinking, Spiegelberg, Kietäväinen - Stulić, Dumez.

For their match strategy, mero had decided to use their ability to counter-attack whenever possible. E. Rousson gave the visitors the lead 19 minutes into the match to make it 0 - 1. The goal was scored from the penalty spot after a handball in the penalty area. The counterattack by mero resulted in a free kick that E. Rousson bent under the crossbar - 0 - 2! By now, the players in mero felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. A marvellous Maledives_FC effort on the right-hand side resulted in a goal after 23 minutes by A. Iannone, making the score 1 - 2. It was 1 - 2 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to Maledives_FC, who controlled the ball 55 percent of the time.

G. Keist's speed is always a threat when he gets a little room to move, and 60 minutes into the match was no different as he broke free of his man to send a delightful through ball to S. Ataol who knocked it in for Maledives_FC. 2 - 2! After 76 minutes, mero's D. Ueberschär made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 2 - 3. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave K. Dumez from mero a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 79 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! 87 minutes in, mero's P. Märki received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. A drive down the left side allowed P. Stulić to get in close and score another goal for mero after 88 minutes, taking the score to 2 - 4. Maledives_FC had most of the ball, with 53 percent of possession.

Most important Maledives_FC player was B. Ximénez. J. Niedermann was a disappointment, however. The most dominating mero player was without a doubt E. Ohana. On the other hand, E. Rousson's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 4.