Phoenix 5 - 0 fighters (366426943)

Clear skies welcomed the 8600 spectators who had made their way to Phoenix Dragon Arena. Carlos Roberto Santos Reis was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Umberto Buonfini and Ivo Kutzev. Everyone was excited about the upcoming Rīga derby and the crowd was divided evenly. A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Phoenix. They fielded: Kristsons - Dzelme, Skujunieks, Gubankov, Sazonenko - Krasts, Ķerselis, Prēdis, Riekstiņš - Sanaev, Tīmanis.

fighters had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. Lineup: Zebiņš - Feldmanis, Dziedātājs, Malkavs, Briksnis - Ozoliņš, Danilovskiy, Lakstiņš-Lakstīgala, Dauguls - Dubicki, Karwot.

K. Riekstiņš gave Phoenix the lead as he successfully challenged the guests' central defenders, then slotted the ball into the bottom corner, giving the keeper no chance. 1 - 0 Phoenix's M. Sanaev increased the lead to 2 - 0, after he saw his shot go between the legs of the advancing goalkeeper following some good play down the right wing after 10 minutes. M. Sanaev could have increased the lead after 13 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. 2 - 0 was the halftime score. Phoenix claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 70 percent.

The home side's I. Ķerselis came close to extending the lead 66 minutes into the game. His shot came in from the right hand side but G. Zebiņš managed to save it with an unbelievable reaction stop. The head of O. Krasts connected with a corner kick after 70 minutes, and the ball ended up with J. Prēdis of Phoenix who blasted the ball into the net, making the score 3 - 0. With 72 minutes played, Phoenix put themselves up 4 - 0 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to G. Sazonenko, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home. After this, you could see that the players of Phoenix were more interested in killing time than scoring more goals. After 73 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by O. Krasts might have resulted in another goal for Phoenix. However, G. Zebiņš made a spectacular save. K. Riekstiņš increased the lead for Phoenix to 5 - 0, getting a head onto a hooked ball from the right. The ball looked to have taken a deflection on the way in, but he's claiming it! Phoenix enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 71 percent of possession.

The most dominating Phoenix player was without a doubt G. Sazonenko. However, J. Kristsons made a disastrous appearance. A. Karwot performed admirably for fighters. G. Zebiņš turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 5 - 0.