PINGVINS 4 - 5 Spam (364117004)

The crowd of 41718 turning up at ROYAL PINGVINS ARENA today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Wojtek Skrzypnik was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ari Kalliokoski and Özer Altıner. PINGVINS started off with a 3-4-3 lineup. Lineup: Lilleeng - Roldán, Ylijoki, Luomanen - Canijn, Ulmanis, Wiker, Baklāns - Hartvigsen, Ericsson, Tobolov.

Spam had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Starters: Dorca - Ullés, Lazić, Čiksts - Dinov, Geerdink, Šeda, Kmak, Wechselberger - Arciszewski, Vilciņš.

Spam took a creative approach on the field. The muddy pitch made the game a gritty affair, which seemed to suit E. Ylijoki just fine. With 17 minutes played, the home side managed to get a 1 - 0 lead as H. Luomanen flipped the ball in after a cross from the right. The boggy pitch disrupted the game, especially for technical players like T. Wiker. I. Šeda made a run for the goal 30 minutes into the game but the home team's left back managed to sort the situation out in the end. The crowd was amused as C. Ullés of Spam used a few interesting tricks and dribbles to get into the penalty box. The finish by S. Wechselberger wasn't very amusing, however, as the ball flew way over the crossbar. 37 minutes into the game, T. Wiker had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came M. Susoev. The visitors' I. Šeda was alert after a cross coming in from the left, levelling the score at 1 - 1 after 41 minutes. Spam's D. Geerdink gave the visitors a 1 - 2 lead after 43 minutes with a superb strike from the right. Spam's I. Čiksts was shown a yellow card after 44 minutes for slicing down an opponent. S. Wechselberger's speed is always a threat when he gets a little room to move, and 44 minutes into the match was no different as he broke free of his man to send a delightful through ball to E. Arciszewski who knocked it in for Spam. 1 - 3! The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 3. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by PINGVINS, with 54 percent of the ball.

Although the whole team were struggling to impress, PINGVINS's A. Baklāns was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 46 minutes. F. Dobis was given a chance to change things around. PINGVINS's I. Ulmanis cut towards the middle after 49 minutes, receiving a brilliant pass and slicing through the visiting team's central defence, reducing the lead to 2 - 3. PINGVINS needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 50 minutes E. Ylijoki made way for V. Loigny. 53 minutes into the game, Spam had difficulty finding their positions and their organisation dropped to passable. S. Wechselberger's lightning pace was too much for I. Ulmanis who could only look on as the Spam player blasted one home. 2 - 4. PINGVINS supporters cheered as good work down the right got the ball to A. Ericsson who reduced the visitors' lead after 82 minutes to 3 - 4. After a fatal mistake from the away team's right side defence 86 minutes into the match, an alert F. Dobis bagged the ball for PINGVINS, levelling the score to 4 - 4. After 87 minutes, Spam sent a free kick in high over the penalty box. In what looked like a well-rehearsed move, the ball was headed backwards and reached S. Dinov, who had plenty of space to place a well aimed shot - 4 - 5. Possession in this half belonged to PINGVINS, who controlled the ball 62 percent of the time.

K. Hartvigsen performed admirably for PINGVINS. V. Loigny turned in a dismal performance, however. Spam's best player was I. Čiksts. F. Lazić was a disappointment, however. The match ends 4 - 5.