hammers 1 - 5 Deportivo (392818671)

Clouds darkened the skies at F.C. Hammers Arena as 26100 spectators turned up for the match. Ivan Krpec was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Rafael Struve and Mitchell Dover. hammers tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players took the field: Havranek - Kuciapski, Džiankauskas, Castellón - Haahtela, Mobali, Fritsch, Morandi, Musini - Bassano, Huuhtanen.

Deportivo had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Starters: Cyrankiewicz - Pontiroli, Cusaro, Tama - Zenderowski, Quaqquero, Peluso, Jacobsen, Ramstad - Vrančić, Siłakowski.

Some good play on the left wing created an opportunity for the visitors 3 minutes into the match, and A. Siłakowski wasn't about to let it go by. He got past the defenders and fired a shot that the keeper just missed. 0 - 1 for the visitors. The visitors almost increased their lead after 13 minutes when a sweetly hit free kick looked like it was heading for the top corner. However the keeper managed to get a fingertip to it, sending it over the bar. Due to some great work on the right wing hammers's D. Musini was able to even the score after 14 minutes to make the score 1 - 1. K. Zenderowski's speed is always a threat when he gets a little room to move, and 25 minutes into the match was no different as he broke free of his man to send a delightful through ball to S. Vrančić who knocked it in for Deportivo. 1 - 2! After 29 minutes, a mistake by the home side's left defence allowed S. Vrančić to get through. He outclassed the home side's keeper, adding another goal for the visitors. 1 - 3. Confident in their lead, Deportivo's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. The home crowd cheered when, after 31 minutes, A. Siłakowski's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. 1 - 3 was the halftime score. Deportivo claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 51 percent.

Deportivo increased their lead after 51 minutes when A. Siłakowski broke through on the right, upping the score to 1 - 4, much to the home crowd's dismay. After the ball was lifted in from the left, C. Cusaro was on his own in the home side's penalty area and should have scored after 54 minutes, but missed, probably due to lack of concentration. N. Fritsch challenged the visitors' central defence eagerly, producing a good chance 61 minutes into the game as he went for a through ball. But, as so many times before, the guests' defensive efforts got the best of it. With 62 minutes played, M. Quaqquero nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through in the middle and fired from just outside the box, but his shot passed just over the bar. While defending the Deportivo lead, M. Jacobsen got a new role. 65 minutes in the game, his coach ordered him to change positions with F. Tama. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave D. Castellón from hammers a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 67 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! S. Vrančić wanted to play on, but the Deportivo coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 70 minutes into the game by M. Lasa. With 70 minutes played, Deportivo's well-worked indirect free kick caused havoc in the penalty area, and when the ball eventually fell to M. Quaqquero he gleefully slotted the ball home to make it 1 - 5. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Deportivo, with 51 percent of the ball.

hammers's top performer was clearly S. Morandi. S. Haahtela turned in a dismal performance, however. The most dominating Deportivo player was without a doubt A. Peluso. M. Jacobsen was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 5.