Generatia 2 - 2 Devils (365237729)

29823 spectators had found their way to Stadionul National, despite the heavy rain. Torsten Meisterfeld was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Eycke Hotz and Stephen Cappuccini. A 4-3-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Generatia. The following players had been chosen: Minciu - Mišović, Stjerne, Caramelli, Boţel - Viegas, De Buck, Qiang Li - Gălăţeanu, Heller, Evensen.

Devils tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Ulmu - Ailincăi, Chiritã, Ionescu - Voczelka, Bucur, Costea, Grosu, Spirea - Cămătaru, Ghiţă.

Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of Generatia. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Devils's V. Ghiţă after 2 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 0 - 1 lead. Thighs bulging, N. Mišović charged past the weaker players, seemingly oblivious to the rain. I. Spirea could have put his team up another goal 18 minutes into the game, after a rush down the left, but his closing shot hit the post. V. Boţel of Generatia seemed to be floating in the air as he elegantly headed in to make the score 1 - 1 after a corner kick that was nicely executed by M. Viegas. O. Evensen gave Generatia the lead as he successfully challenged the guests' central defenders, then slotted the ball into the bottom corner, giving the keeper no chance. 2 - 1 M. Viegas had a fantastic opportunity to put Generatia up another goal 32 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. Halftime score was 2 - 1. Devils enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 58 percent of possession.

After 51 minutes, the defensive line of Generatia created a counterattack through the middle that gave V. Boţel a good look at the goal, but his shot glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. P. Voczelka has acquired a talent for predicting the movements of the opposing defence over the years and this almost resulted in a goal 62 minutes into the match. Devils were close to putting the equaliser away after 64 minutes as the opposing defence lost control of the ball to V. Cămătaru in a scuffle towards the left of the goal, but in the end the ball was cleared over the dead ball line. 70 minutes into the game Devils's D. Costea found a gap in the home side's central defence and scored with a fabulous shot, making it 2 - 2. T. Stjerne had a hard time on the waterlogged pitch - his trademark technique was nowhere in sight today. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave C. Gălăţeanu from Generatia a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 74 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Devils claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 60 percent.

Most important Generatia player was O. Evensen. V. Boţel turned in a dismal performance, however. The most dominating Devils player was without a doubt V. Cămătaru. On the other hand, R. Ailincăi's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 2.