Aritmija 2 - 1 štepanc (331516283)

Dark skies made the crowd of 50000 at ExtraArena a little nervous, but the rain held off. Shaheen Faqih was the appointed referee with assistance provided by André Malfoy and Kaloyan Stariradev. The derby had been the talk of Ljubljana all week and fans of both teams could be seen throughout the stadium. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Aritmija. The following players had been chosen: Gulliksen - Boizet, Byliniak, Creytz - Uranc, Haklc, Tuzar, Krek, Hribar - Barckhan, Clotas.

štepanc started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Starters: Lezama - Borms, Bagonis, Lapi - Hacohen, Castelblanco, Tidona, Neves, Vandepaer - Zetber, Botonjič.

9 minutes into the game, H. Zetber was a hair's breadth away from giving štepanc the lead with a shot from over on the left. A prompt block by U. Gulliksen saved the home team that time. K. Tuzar was ever so close to scoring after an excellent corner was beautifully flicked on by B. Uranc, but the ball bounced off the post to safety. Against a lesser team, Aritmija could very well have succeeded with their smart indirect free kick routine after 22 minutes. A trio of passes took the ball all the way past the defenders, but by then the intended recipient was already blocked off and the keeper could make a leisurely save. Aritmija took the lead, 1 - 0, after a penalty 30 minutes into the match. E. Byliniak scored from the penalty spot. The visitors didn't give in and, after 33 minutes, H. Tidona got through the home side's central line of defence, rolling in the equaliser to make it 1 - 1. 1 - 1 was the halftime score. Possession in this half belonged to Aritmija, who controlled the ball 51 percent of the time.

There was concern in the stands when, at the 62 minute mark, štepanc's L. Borms hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. Priding himself in being an active coach, the Aritmija manager gave new instructions to his players after 70 minutes. The coach of Aritmija wanted to try to change things around after 75 minutes, and gave new tactical instructions. At 75 minutes played, N. Barckhan came in from the right with the intention of giving Aritmija the lead, but his rocket of a shot rattled the crossbar. With 83 minutes played B. Creytz almost put the home team one ahead on a cross coming in from the right, but the shot went just wide. With the match clock at 85 minutes, Aritmija modified their style of play a little bit. A scuffle developed as players from both sides clashed following a tussle in the centre of the field 85 minutes into the match. After regaining order and consulting his linesman, the referee called štepanc's H. Zetber to one side and produced a red card for the player. Aritmija had most of the ball, with 53 percent of possession.

With the scores being level after 90 minutes, the match went into extra time. The home side put themselves ahead 2 - 1 after 107 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from D. Hribar, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing. With that Aritmija had won the game in extra time. The most dominating Aritmija player was without a doubt M. Clotas. G. Boizet was a disappointment, however. H. Tidona performed admirably for štepanc. On the other hand, E. Hacohen's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 1.