MMCA 3 - 1 Tosca (365990837)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 54374 at Il Castello di Schrödinger "il Gatto Non-Morto" today. Per Hansson was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Hinz Endt and Patrizio Casalini. MMCA started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Metsovaara - Kortan, Patecki, Šibrava - Baćković, Vinatzer, Sartur, Tonev, Charlotten - Minieri, Rønn.

Tosca decided to use a 4-5-1 set up. They fielded: Rojas - Caçapava, Mellendorf, Ruggerone, Küchenmeister - Leo, Schwarm, Nizzolo, Di Vaio, van Eijkeren - Schlotterhausen.

It was an obvious ambition of MMCA to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. Tosca decided to play creatively. A well placed corner kick from D. Sartur was followed by S. Šibrava's hard but accurate header. The well executed routine resulted in a goal for MMCA, the score now 1 - 0. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, P. Caçapava got himself booked. The manager of Tosca was not happy. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave M. Schlotterhausen from Tosca a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 33 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! E. Metsovaara of MMCA had to be helped off the pitch as an injury meant he was unable to finish the game. D. Tirado Barranco came in to finish the match. With 35 minutes played, MMCA's Z. Patecki almost extended the lead, but his shot from the left glanced off the top of the bar to fall behind the net. Tosca's R. van Eijkeren was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 38 minutes. MMCA put themselves up 2 - 0 when N. Baćković broke through on the right, leaving the entire defence trailing in his wake. It was 2 - 0 at the break. MMCA claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 57 percent.

The MMCA coach was visibly pleased with the score so far, but still ordered a few tactical changes 46 minutes into the game. In an effort to secure the lead, MMCA changed their tactic after 46 minutes. In the lead, MMCA adjusted their style of play with 46 minutes gone. D. Tirado Barranco made a brilliant save 48 minutes into the match, blocking a rocket of a shot from M. Schlotterhausen on the right hand side. Tosca's R. van Eijkeren had a good first touch on the flank, but was crowded and, after a change of plan, sent the ball to A. Leo who somehow managed to curl the ball wide. Z. Patecki should probably have put his team up another goal after 84 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by E. Rojas kept the visitors in the game. S. Šibrava couldn't do anything to stop the technically gifted M. Schlotterhausen as he dodged past on his way to scoring a wonderful goal for Tosca - 2 - 1! Things were deteriorating for the away team as MMCA scored another to make it 3 - 1 after a left side attack resulted in a goal for M. Charlotten after 88 minutes. Confident in their lead, MMCA's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. Possession in this half belonged to MMCA, who controlled the ball 58 percent of the time.

The most dominating MMCA player was without a doubt D. Minieri. N. Baćković on the other hand, had a terrible day. R. van Eijkeren performed admirably for Tosca. E. Rojas turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 3 - 1.