Alpha 5 - 2 Haiducii (365237323)

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 69356 to Shadow Stadium. Kjell Hammarmo was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Andrés Villalba and Jürn Handler. Alpha had chosen a strategic 2-5-3 formation. Starters: Figuera - Ghebea, Ibn-Mukhtar - Sarpe, Ştefan, Pescaru, Istrate, Morariu - Oprea, Passenberg, Enache.

Haiducii decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. The following players had been chosen: Paşcu - İnönü, Vianu, Kimak - Niculae, D'Avanzo, Caranfa, Popescu, Vasile - Eilander, Buzatu.

The wings were the focus of most of Alpha's attacks today. The strategy for Haiducii was to use their ability to press. At this time in the match, Haiducii were using their skill at pressing to successfully stifle the game. Some good play on the left wing created an opportunity for the visitors 9 minutes into the match, and C. Niculae 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 Haiducii coach was visibly pleased with the score so far, but still ordered a few tactical changes 10 minutes into the game. In an effort to secure the lead, Haiducii changed their tactic after 10 minutes. After a scuffle in the guests' penalty area 17 minutes into the game, the home team was awarded a penalty. F. Ibn-Mukhtar scored to make it 1 - 1. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Haiducii's N. D'Avanzo after 21 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 1 - 2 lead. M. Oprea was just a finger's breadth away from an equaliser for Alpha with a strike from the left, but I. Paşcu managed to ward the shot off for a corner. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 2. Alpha had most of the ball, with 56 percent of possession.

In the lead, Haiducii adjusted their style of play with 46 minutes gone. Alpha had a good opportunity to attack in the middle, but remembered their instructions to focus on wing attacks instead. The crowd was on its feet 56 minutes into the match, as Alpha's H. Sarpe found himself unmarked in front of the goal after a dash up the left side. He calmly put away the 2 - 2 equaliser. Attacking on the wings was the choice for Alpha, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. With 62 minutes played, the home side managed to get a 3 - 2 lead as O. Pescaru flipped the ball in after a cross from the right. With 65 minutes played, the Haiducii coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around. M. Nae came on, L. Vasile had to leave the fray. A speedy charge from the left side of the field increased the lead of Alpha to 4 - 2 as C. Ştefan finished it off competently, firing in from an acute angle. Players in Alpha heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their central attacks to the wings instead. With 79 minutes played, Alpha put themselves up 5 - 2 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to M. Morariu, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home. The players of Alpha now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. Unhappy with the result so far in the game, the Haiducii manager used a brief break in play after 80 minutes to give the players new directives. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Alpha, with 57 percent of the ball.

The most dominating Alpha player was without a doubt T. Passenberg. On the other hand, E. Ghebea's play was disheartening. C. Vianu performed admirably for Haiducii. B. Kimak turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 5 - 2.