Pantoffeltierchen 2 - 3 Smart (367038492)

The crowd of 38584 turning up at nec plus ultra today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Adam Hofkamp was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Radu Carp and Davide Manelli. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Pantoffeltierchen. The following players had been chosen: Gazca - Pilegaard, Ćirić, Sassanelli - Grandovec, Bajželj, Dolinar, Maslar, Kulkki - Ciobanu, Oğuzer.

Smart tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Da Costa - Peterin, Van den Bergh, Ramírez - Caf, Kaňák, Goršak, Dobrnjac, Lövész - Smerdelj, Avguštinčič.

After 5 minutes, Smart's S. Smerdelj made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 0 - 1. R. Ciobanu was struggling to make the ball dance with his usual trickery and panache, and the opposing players had little trouble shutting him down in these muddy conditions. The visitors nearly scored again after 25 minutes, but a superb save by F. Gazca kept V. Avguštinčič's free kick out of the net. Some fine passing in the middle of the pitch, carving open the away defence, should have led to a goal for Pantoffeltierchen, but S. Oğuzer's shot went over the bar. J. Dolinar of Pantoffeltierchen received a yellow card after 30 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. 34 minutes into the game, S. Oğuzer came close to levelling the score with a dangerous shot from the centre of the area that went just over the bar. 35 minutes in, Smart's J. Ramírez received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. V. Kulkki, who often relies on his speed, had a rotten day on the drenched grass. Given a free kick close to the byline, Pantoffeltierchen tried a move that loyal fans may recognise from training. A pass to the side pulled the defence out of position which let M. Sassanelli slip through on goal. He didn't have to break his stride, and slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 1 - 1, 37 minutes into the game. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave M. Sassanelli from Pantoffeltierchen a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 38 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Unfortunately for Smart, M. Da Costa was injured when the game became more physical, and he had to leave the field. Ž. Macura replaced him. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 1. Possession of the ball saw an equal split between the teams during the forty-five minutes.

The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Smart's Z. Dobrnjac after 81 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 1 - 2 lead. Pantoffeltierchen needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 81 minutes V. Ćirić made way for J. Lazarevič. A drive down the left side allowed A. Goršak to get in close and score another goal for Smart after 82 minutes, taking the score to 1 - 3. Pantoffeltierchen's fans were urging them forward as they tried to get back into the game, and their vocal support was rewarded 83 minutes into the match as N. Bajželj ran onto a beautiful ball played through the visitors' defence and slotted it past the keeper to reduce the deficit. 2 - 3. Neither team was controlling the possession at this point in the match, with the stats showing a 50:50 split.

Pantoffeltierchen's top performer was clearly J. Lazarevič. S. Pilegaard was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Smart player was without a doubt V. Avguštinčič. Ž. Macura on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 3.