Dog`s 0 - 0 bau-bau (334366303)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 32001 had shown up at The Dog`s Arena for the match. Gabriele Lumbroso was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Rinus Swagemakers and Urpo Valkjärvi. Dog`s tactics involved an interesting 5-3-2 combination. They fielded: Alexe - Pop, Nicolae, Le Meur, Munteanu, Popescu - Savu, Bârzan, Ghimboaşă - Pleşca, Dragomirescu.

bau-bau decided to use a 3-4-3 set up. Lineup: Rubeo - Nisa, Pawarscher, Zwagemaker - Frankot, Guérard, Barksal, Ljungmar - Răţoi, Goulbourne, Dunca.

Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of Dog`s. Down the middle came Z. Barksal, making a fantastic play that nearly had bau-bau take the lead after 7 minutes, but C. Alexe preserved the tie. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave D. Goulbourne from bau-bau a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 10 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Coming in from the right, Dog`s had a good opportunity to convert on a counterattack after 24 minutes, but C. Dragomirescu's attempt to finish was easily stopped. 0 - 0 was the halftime score. bau-bau had most of the ball, with 53 percent of possession.

52 minutes into the match, bau-bau nearly took the lead, as L. Răţoi broke through on the right. C. Alexe made the save, however. With the clock showing 72 minutes played, a great pass from the defensive line of Dog`s resulted in a counterattack that was smoothly brought under control by D. Nicolae in the centre of the opposition's penalty area, but his finish went high. bau-bau enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 52 percent of possession.

Dog`s's top performer was clearly C. Dragomirescu. On the other hand, B. Savu's play was disheartening. bau-bau's best player was D. Goulbourne. Q. Frankot was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 0.