Zinghiai 4 - 2 La Brùlia (365998746)

Clouds darkened the skies at RealZinghial Arena as 60000 spectators turned up for the match. Iwan van Lammeren was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Virgil Geveaux and Lars Schallern. Zinghiai tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Furnari - Papp, Vico, Lucu - D'Aquino, Giustra, Bizzo, Cannau, Iakovidis - Di Maria, Kiche.

A 5-2-3 alignment was the formation of choice for La Brùlia. Lineup: Aslan - Tixier, Falegnami, Dienemann, Nilsen, Niguarda - Bratkovič, Spiga - Barbier, Katina, Moura Cruz.

Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for La Brùlia. F. Bizzo caused the crowd to go mental with his goal up the middle after 16 minutes. This gave Zinghiai the 1 - 0 lead. A. Kiche could have increased the lead after 17 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. Things were deteriorating for the away team as Zinghiai scored another to make it 2 - 0 after a left side attack resulted in a goal for D. Cannau after 18 minutes. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Zinghiai lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. Zinghiai's Y. Iakovidis swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. Zinghiai put in a good effort on the right, but A. D'Aquino saw his volley fly wide of the mark 26 minutes into the game. The goal to make it 2 - 1 was scored by Z. Moura Cruz after 27 minutes, following an opportunistic counterattack down the middle by La Brùlia. Halftime score was 2 - 1. Zinghiai enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 83 percent of possession.

63 minutes into the match C. Papp put Zinghiai ahead 3 - 1 with a truly marvelous free kick. The Zinghiai players could smell victory in the air. F. Bizzo wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for I. Baćković after 72 minutes. The home side's A. Kiche came close to extending the lead 73 minutes into the game. His shot came in from the right hand side but A. Aslan managed to save it with an unbelievable reaction stop. J. Barbier stunned the crowd with a brilliant counterattack from the left, giving La Brùlia the goal to make it 3 - 2. Y. Iakovidis's speed is always a threat when he gets a little room to move, and 86 minutes into the match was no different as he broke free of his man to send a delightful through ball to P. Di Maria who knocked it in for Zinghiai. 4 - 2! The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave R. Dienemann from La Brùlia a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 89 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! 89 minutes into the game, P. Di Maria had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came F. Ökmener. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Zinghiai, with 80 percent of the ball.

The most dominating Zinghiai player was without a doubt A. Kiche. On the other hand, F. Ökmener's play was disheartening. J. Barbier performed admirably for La Brùlia. G. Falegnami on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 4 - 2.