manutd 3 - 0 stambrus-ua (365560313)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 35835 at old trafford today. Manuel Faubert was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Kasper Påske and Sietse Haelvoet. manutd had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. Starters: Pilyutik - Madeline, Fichou, Horsting, Marcu - Kuittinen, Pérez del Cerro, Azpilicueta, Zurlinden - Millasseau, Holzner.

A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for stambrus-ua. The following players had been chosen: Sabag - Winn, Deutsch, Amit, Marom - Osiptsov, Ovadia, Azuri, Shalit - Sharf, Sharir.

15 minutes had elapsed when a great chance for manutd to take the lead after a good cross from the right found G. Holzner alone with the keeper, but he chipped it to the wrong side of the post. stambrus-ua's Z. Azuri was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 39 minutes. The home side put themselves ahead 1 - 0 after 41 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from W. Kuittinen, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing. Halftime score was 1 - 0. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by manutd, with 74 percent of the ball.

63 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as C. Pérez del Cerro broke through, making the score 2 - 0 for manutd. With 64 minutes played, manutd's A. Fichou almost extended the lead, but his shot from the left glanced off the top of the bar to fall behind the net. Cheers filled the stadium as C. Madeline broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 3 - 0 to manutd. The players of manutd now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave M. Shalit from stambrus-ua a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 67 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! manutd enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 77 percent of possession.

Most important manutd player was V. Pilyutik. W. Kuittinen turned in a dismal performance, however. stambrus-ua's top performer was clearly S. Sharf. On the other hand, H. Sabag's play was disheartening. The match ends 3 - 0.