inpackt 3 - 1 SKRYBYS (366396435)

Clear skies welcomed the 39169 spectators who had made their way to deep inpackt Arena. Pontus Engfeldt was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ashwin Bosloo and Gábor Kossuth. inpackt tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. Lineup: Matute Garcia - Lamekhov, Dondi, Mazzeo, Biksts - Čepāns, Čaklais, Bosque, Çelen - Saldaks, Bīskaps.

A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for SKRYBYS. They fielded: Kindzulis - Estreicher, Merca, Mureşian, Andersson - Zaška, Bornkessel, Vaisburds, Lind - Windecken, Moitinho.

It was an obvious ambition of SKRYBYS to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. inpackt fans held their breath as S. Saldaks scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 1 - 0! The referee showed inpackt's A. Dondi the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in inpackt's I. Bīskaps increasing the lead to 2 - 0. Cheers filled the stadium as I. Bīskaps broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 3 - 0 to inpackt. At this point, it was obvious that the players of inpackt lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. A. Bosque almost put inpackt ahead another goal when he curled a free kick over the defensive wall and almost into the net, but the visitors' keeper got there just in time to knock it wide. After 33 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by V. Čaklais might have resulted in another goal for inpackt. However, G. Kindzulis made a spectacular save. 3 - 0 was the halftime score. inpackt claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 59 percent.

D. Mazzeo's lack of experience almost gave SKRYBYS a goal after 49 minutes, but the shot went right into the keeper's arms. With 50 minutes played, inpackt's R. Biksts almost extended the lead, but his shot from the left glanced off the top of the bar to fall behind the net. SKRYBYS breathed new life into the game with an opportunity to reduce the score after 65 minutes, but the home side's defenders cleared the ball on the line, after a long shot coming in from the left rebounded off the crossbar. In the 79 minute, SKRYBYS were awarded a free kick as their counter attack dried up. The ball was sent in high over the penalty box and, in what looked like a well-rehearsed move, it was headed backwards to reach A. Merca, who placed it into the net with a single touch. 3 - 1. inpackt had most of the ball, with 57 percent of possession.

inpackt's top performer was clearly I. Bīskaps. On the other hand, J. Matute Garcia's play was disheartening. M. Moitinho performed admirably for SKRYBYS. H. Estreicher was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 1.