Rapanel 0 - 8 Stalent (365237662)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 60442 at Orientul Indepartat today. Barrett Curran was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Roberto Menegazzi and Yazid Lakloumi. Rapanel started off with a 2-5-3 lineup. They fielded: Luntraru - Marvits, Niculae - Gilissen, Onokhov, Exner, Kaziród, Trozzi - Erkunt, Zampella, Schlieker.

A 4-5-1 alignment was the formation of choice for Stalent. Starters: Buckley - Rothell, Minder, Orlotti, Švabovský - Neacsu, Knauff, Neacsu, de Kijsser, Andrieu - Voza.

Rapanel took a creative approach on the field. The wings were the focus of most of Stalent's attacks today. 0 - 1 was the score with 2 minutes played, after N. Neacsu cut through the central defence and chipped home a goal for Stalent. The home crowd was not impressed when T. Knauff came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 14 minutes. Stalent were now up 0 - 2. With 22 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed H. Andrieu of Stalent to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 0 - 3. The players of Stalent now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. Some fine movement on the left led to a Stalent goal after 26 minutes, making it 0 - 4. G. Orlotti was noted down as the scorer. 38 minutes into the game, Stalent worked the left side industriously creating several opportunities to add to their lead, but just couldn't apply the finishing touch. 0 - 4 was the score after the first half. Possession in this half belonged to Stalent, who controlled the ball 81 percent of the time.

R. Voza received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 69 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 0 - 5. The Stalent fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. Had it not been for one of the home defenders, O. Rothell would have put Stalent up another goal 77 minutes into the match with his audacious lob from the right wing. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave W. Exner from Rapanel a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 78 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! G. Orlotti increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 0 - 6. After 82 minutes, Stalent 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 H. Andrieu, who had plenty of space to place a well aimed shot - 0 - 7. Stalent's H. Andrieu was shown a yellow card after 83 minutes for slicing down an opponent. 84 minutes into the game, Stalent seemed a little tentative in their play as their organization fell to solid. Players in Stalent heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their central attacks to the wings instead. A drive down the left side allowed R. Voza to get in close and score another goal for Stalent after 86 minutes, taking the score to 0 - 8. Stalent enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 83 percent of possession.

Most important Rapanel player was G. Zampella. J. Kaziród was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Stalent player was without a doubt M. Neacsu. J. Buckley on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 0 - 8.