Rapid 1 - 1 anipothetoi (365252508)

43373 spectators had come to "Valentin Stanescu" Giulesti this cloudy day. Mitch Hubscher was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Nils Kaspersen and Toive Fedorov. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Rapid. The following players took the field: Neda - Glodeanu, Başturea, Fertała - Palazzo, Grković, Holm, Westerkamp, Ruţa - Ivanišević, Aitamurto.

anipothetoi decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. The following players had been chosen: de Launet - Kalkan, Iannuzzi, Modica - Kluczyk, Copos, Fullam, Buck, Barb - Békési, Tartaglia.

It was an obvious ambition of Rapid to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. After 22 minutes Rapid's F. Fertała contracted a slight foot injury, but didn't want to leave the game. anipothetoi had several good opportunities to take the lead, especially 25 minutes in when M. Tartaglia came up alone against S. Neda who managed a block. Rapid broke through on the left 26 minutes into the game, with D. Ivanišević firing in from an acute angle to give the home side a 1 - 0 lead. Coming from the right, V. Başturea almost managed to score another goal for Rapid, but his header was tipped over the bar by the visitors' keeper. anipothetoi's M. Tartaglia was shown a yellow card after 32 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Due to a severely mistimed tackle, A. Glodeanu of Rapid spent some time on the grass writhing in agony before he could get up and continue the game. It was 1 - 0 at the break. This part of the game was a standoff between the teams in terms of possession.

The home side's S. Grković came close to extending the lead 48 minutes into the game. His shot came in from the right hand side but S. de Launet managed to save it with an unbelievable reaction stop. anipothetoi's S. de Launet refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 51 minutes. R. Palazzo unleashed a swerving effort from the right that the visitors' keeper did well to tip wide. The home team will be cursing C. Barb for weeks; he finished off a great pass from the left, knocking it past the keeper without a problem. The match was level at 1 - 1 after 62 minutes. Priding himself in being an active coach, the Rapid manager gave new instructions to his players after 62 minutes. 62 minutes into the match, the Rapid manager wanted to try a new tactic, and the players loyally obliged. With the match clock at 63 minutes, Rapid modified their style of play a little bit. T. Buck had a good opportunity to give anipothetoi the lead as he charged down the right and struck the ball towards the top corner, but the home team's goalkeeper made the save. Rapid claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 51 percent.

Most important Rapid player was D. Ivanišević. On the other hand, M. Ruţa's play was disheartening. anipothetoi's best player was H. Kalkan. M. Tartaglia turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 1 - 1.