Crocestrada 3 - 6 Gengivlia (366236432)

The crowd of 14266 turning up at Crocestrada Stadium today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Jérémy Quillevère was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Zé Ávila and Gibbe Nossent. Crocestrada started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Belém - Wagner-Teerhof, Manieu, Bui - Cargnelutti, Mundt, Lebreton, Szołtysek, Kasel - Moreda, Luly.

Gengivlia tactics involved an interesting 3-4-3 combination. They fielded: Werber - Price, Biçici, Duijker - Savić, Castaño, Isborg, Martínez - Missaglia, Bos, Sassila.

It was an obvious ambition of Crocestrada to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. Players in Crocestrada heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their central attacks to the wings instead. M. Missaglia did not have a good day today, often losing his footing on the muddy pitch. Gengivlia took the lead after 25 minutes making the score 0 - 1. M. Missaglia placed the ball out of reach for the home side's keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. 27 minutes in, Crocestrada's J. Szołtysek received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Gengivlia's H. Bos went down after a savage challenge, but could continue playing after some medical attention. It was obvious that Crocestrada had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. No matter how hard he tried, S. Luly just couldn't get his shot past the visitors' right side defence after 33 minutes. Gengivlia increased the lead to 0 - 2 as A. Castaño scored from the penalty spot, putting the ball in near the top left corner. In an effort to secure the lead, Gengivlia changed their tactic after 37 minutes. The game was close to savage at times, and Crocestrada's J. Szołtysek received a second yellow card after 39 minutes; his ticket out of the game. M. Isborg increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 0 - 3. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, M. Sassila got himself booked. The manager of Gengivlia was not happy. Gengivlia's T. Werber had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 43 minutes having been played. D. Federici was the replacement. Crocestrada's C. Moreda was shown a yellow card after 44 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Gengivlia were forced into a substitution as R. Duijker couldn't continue due to some rough treatment, forcing E. Fassio to come in off the bench. Crocestrada's fans were urging them forward as they tried to get back into the game, and their vocal support was rewarded 44 minutes into the match as S. Luly ran onto a beautiful ball played through the visitors' defence and slotted it past the keeper to reduce the deficit. 1 - 3. 1 - 3 was the halftime score. Gengivlia claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 52 percent.

A penalty kick was awarded to Crocestrada 66 minutes into the match, and A. Manieu expertly put it away. 2 - 3. M. Isborg left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 76 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. D. Vautrin was the replacement. After 76 minutes, Gengivlia's M. Sassila burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 2 - 4. D. Vautrin still has a lot to learn. For instance, he should know not to make half-hearted passes in front of N. Lebreton, who easily scored for Crocestrada, making it 3 - 4. 87 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 3 - 5 as M. Missaglia finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. With 88 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed M. Sassila of Gengivlia to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 3 - 6. By now, the players in Gengivlia felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. G. Galardo was called on to replace Crocestrada's C. Moreda after 89 minutes following a nasty collision. Crocestrada had most of the ball, with 53 percent of possession.

Crocestrada's best player was J. Mundt. However, G. Cargnelutti made a disastrous appearance. A. Castaño performed admirably for Gengivlia. On the other hand, E. Fassio's play was disheartening. The match ends 3 - 6.