Friulane 3 - 1 Eliottina (366272452)

Dark skies made the crowd of 19912 at Pino Mare2 Arena a little nervous, but the rain held off. Michiel Gravy was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Timo Parpola and Mario Alberto Rodríguez. Friulane started off with a 4-5-1 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Rocha - Šnajder, Wahlen, Tucã, Şerban - Medina Paz, Ramírez, Tato, Saturno, Mac Kenney - Wochhinger.

Eliottina had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. The following players took the field: Pannullo - Griva, Dagilaitis, Barattini - Busan, Garotti, Vilhena, Gigliotti - Calheiros, Tomasulo, Simonetti.

Friulane clearly preferred using their ability to attack in the middle. With the clock showing 12 minutes played, a great pass from the defensive line of Eliottina resulted in a counterattack that was smoothly brought under control by S. Simonetti in the centre of the opposition's penalty area, but his finish went high. 27 minutes into the game, Eliottina seemed a little tentative in their play as their organization fell to inadequate. Friulane players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. The crowd groaned its disapproval when J. Šnajder missed a free kick that would have given Friulane the lead after 29 minutes. The home side put themselves ahead 1 - 0 after 32 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from T. Wahlen, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing. R. Wochhinger looked to be heading one way when he unexpectedly passed the ball to E. Mac Kenney. The move caught everyone off-guard, including his teammate, who panicked and kicked the ball out of play by accident. M. Calheiros of Eliottina was able to make an impressive rush past the sluggish T. Wahlen, which resulted in a goal making the score 1 - 1. Friulane were determined to attack in the middle, even their wing attacks ended up centrally. Friulane's J. Šnajder tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but couldn't get past the visitors' defenders. It was 1 - 1 at the break. Friulane claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 78 percent.

During the break, Eliottina's coach went through the team's tactics yet again, getting them up to solid organisation. Friulane fans held their breath as E. Mac Kenney scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 2 - 1! After 64 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as Eliottina found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to inadequate. 67 minutes into the game, Eliottina seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion and they fell to a weak level of organisation. After 69 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and J. Šnajder gave the Friulane supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 3 - 1. A counterattack by Eliottina after 72 minutes could have resulted in a goal, but M. Calheiros, coming in on the left, couldn't get the shot off. Friulane's E. Mac Kenney swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Friulane, with 83 percent of the ball.

Most important Friulane player was A. Tato. E. Mac Kenney on the other hand, had a terrible day. I. Pannullo performed admirably for Eliottina. D. Gigliotti was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 1.