fighters 5 - 2 DZR (366426896)

12000 spectators arrived at Fighters Arena, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Boško Abdić was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Oskar Neumann and Diarmuid Mulrooney. All of Rīga was shut down for the day, as fans of both clubs came to the derby. A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for fighters. The following players took the field: Zebiņš - Feldmanis, Dziedātājs, Malkavs, Briksnis - Ozoliņš, Danilovskiy, Lakstiņš-Lakstīgala, Dauguls - Dubicki, Karwot.

DZR decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. Lineup: Suratov - Bezdolny, Laipiņš, Mauriņš, Zelenin - Hasyukevich, Leitāns, Ivanov, Zaznobin - Vestmanis, Doļģis.

0 - 1 was the score with 5 minutes played, after G. Zaznobin cut through the central defence and chipped home a goal for DZR. DZR's O. Zelenin got himself booked for a foul. fighters were forced into a substitution as A. Briksnis couldn't continue due to some rough treatment, forcing G. Rodionov to come in off the bench. With 23 minutes having been played, fighters scored to make it 1 - 1. A dribble down the left wing, followed by a shot which took a wicked bounce off a defender resulted in the keeper having no chance. Everyone thought it'd been an own goal, but R. Dubicki was marked down as the scorer. Almost all the way down to the corner flag, fighters's B. Dauguls somehow managed to get a perfect pass into the middle, impossible to miss for A. Karwot, who struck for 2 - 1. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in fighters's B. Dauguls increasing the lead to 3 - 1. By now, the players in fighters felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. The teams went for the halftime break at 3 - 1. Neither team were able to dominate possession this half.

DZR fought on and, after 59 minutes, E. Doļģis was able to reduce the deficit to 3 - 2 after some excellent moves on the right side were finished off with an incredibly clever chip. B. Ivanov acted foolishly after 73 minutes, giving the ball up to fighters's B. Dauguls who had no trouble finding the back of the net. 4 - 2. DZR's Y. Bezdolny was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 80 minutes. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. R. Dubicki squirmed through their central defence after 81 minutes, increasing the lead to 5 - 2. fighters's P. Ozoliņš saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates after 88 minutes. DZR's right side looked dangerous after 89 minutes, as K. Mauriņš broke through. G. Zebiņš continued to stifle them, however, as he made the save look easy. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by fighters, with 51 percent of the ball.

fighters's top performer was clearly A. Karwot. G. Zebiņš was a disappointment, however. G. Leitāns performed admirably for DZR. G. Suratov on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 5 - 2.