Mordovia 2 - 4 zav (392837196)

The 51610 fans in attendance at Svetotekhnika were roasting in the hot sun. Dennis van der Kolk was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Robert H. Lindhbo and Luis Ibarbia. Mordovia decided to use a 5-3-2 set up. The following players had been chosen: Patrakeev - Raschetov, Minibaev, Upakov, Kolynin, Tafintsev - Ulyanov, Kuvin, Pshenichnykh - Couto, Iakovlev.

A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for zav. The following players took the field: Kralkowski - Hyrkkänen, Bröggenolte - Paredes, Montoya Heredia, Mcmahon, Lenardič, Hörrmann - Tarelkin, Caimi, Sedunov.

zav's M. Hyrkkänen could have put the guests one up after 7 minutes after chasing a through ball from the right, but L. Patrakeev was as fast as a snake, grabbing the ball from under his nose. F. Tafintsev showed why he is feared on the counterattack, breaking through in the middle and scoring for Mordovia after 8 minutes to make the score 1 - 0. Mordovia's N. Upakov was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 13 minutes. The visiting team's A. Sedunov was able to score the 1 - 1 equaliser with a header 19 minutes into the match, after some good work on the right. T. Minibaev of Mordovia was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. Given a free kick in a difficult position after 28 minutes, Mordovia tried a variation that they had practised in training. The kick was sent into the area just in front of the keeper. However, the defence were on their toes and allowed no space for a finish. zav took the lead after 37 minutes making the score 1 - 2. R. Lenardič placed the ball out of reach for the home side's keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. Several players seemed a little dazed by the warm weather, and were repeatedly tricked by the clever and agile A. Caimi. It was 1 - 2 at the break. zav had most of the ball, with 63 percent of possession.

The home crowd cheered when, after 51 minutes, A. Sedunov's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. 63 minutes in, zav's N. Bröggenolte received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Content with how the game was proceeding, the zav coach let S. Fajardo replace L. Montoya Heredia after 67 minutes. F. Tafintsev showed the skills that make him a real crowd pleaser as he, after 69 minutes, wove through the guests' entire central defence and put the 2 - 2 equaliser away. The heat made it a terrible day for S. Iakovlev, who seemed unable to keep up with the other players. With 78 minutes played, the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending. N. Bröggenolte put the ball away for 2 - 3. A drive down the left side allowed J. Hörrmann to get in close and score another goal for zav after 81 minutes, taking the score to 2 - 4. The players of zav now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. zav enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 62 percent of possession.

Mordovia's best player was A. Couto. However, F. Tafintsev made a disastrous appearance. A. Caimi performed admirably for zav. N. Bröggenolte on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 4.