Manzo 5 - 0 ss62 (366004653)

The crowd of 28006 turning up at Manzacanà today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Albert Anghel was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Marceli Moczarski and Adrien Diez. Manzo tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Górny - Borkowicz, Chiarella, Rams - Giuliano, La Corte, Galiussi, Mocella, Müller - Nasuti, Pinheiro.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for ss62. Starters: Costa - op der Heijde, Sõber, Šimoník - Figueiras, Gaber, Borin, Gugg, Giovannetti - Loskarn, Syrjämäki.

Manzo seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. The Manzo free kick 2 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But was this actually a plan? The ball landed at the feet of C. Nasuti, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 1 - 0! The referee showed Manzo's V. Müller the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. After 10 minutes, F. Galiussi put Manzo ahead 2 - 0 when he rose to head in a cross from the right wing. The players of Manzo now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. The game was characterised by rough play and many physical challenges on the wet field, but R. Rams showed great heart and had a good game. With 27 minutes played, M. Giovannetti had a fantastic opportunity to reply but his shot flew harmlessly into the side-netting of the goal. The rain made it hard for players like P. Gugg to show their technical control of the ball on this soggy day. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave M. Giovannetti from ss62 a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 30 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! A. Mocella could have put Manzo up one more, but he fired into the side netting after breaking free on the left after 32 minutes. L. Pinheiro slipped and slithered in the wet grass. His usual rapid runs were nowhere to be seen today. The crowd roared its approval when M. Górny somehow managed to block a shot which seemed to be a certain goal by ss62's J. Šimoník 36 minutes into the game. After 37 minutes, Manzo's L. Chiarella found the back of the goal with a beautiful free kick. 3 - 0. Halftime score was 3 - 0. Manzo had most of the ball, with 55 percent of possession.

After 47 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by A. Mocella might have resulted in another goal for Manzo. However, A. Costa made a spectacular save. Manzo's F. Galiussi got himself booked for a foul. Due to a severely mistimed tackle, A. Costa of ss62 spent some time on the grass writhing in agony before he could get up and continue the game. 84 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as V. Giuliano broke through, making the score 4 - 0 for Manzo. L. Chiarella increased Manzo's lead to 5 - 0 with a penalty spot cannonball. ss62's S. op der Heijde was shown a yellow card after 86 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Possession in this half belonged to Manzo, who controlled the ball 56 percent of the time.

Most important Manzo player was F. Galiussi. On the other hand, V. Giuliano's play was disheartening. A. Borin performed admirably for ss62. A. Costa turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 5 - 0.