Piestany 2 - 3 Liverpool (368243540)

53022 punters turned up at Mestský štadion Piešťany, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Krisztián Szőnyi was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Nikolaj Egedal and Dryden Chirnside. Piestany had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Starters: Viñambres - Pinho, Natrup, Pernický - Huţanu, Škovrunský, Kosierb, Neurauter, Ion - Hassing, Boschetti.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Liverpool. They fielded: Gössl - Broci, Nogły, Ambrosino - Fiori, Capella, Kvasz, Gressó, Dženanović - Konkoľ, Koš.

It was an obvious ambition of Piestany to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. Today, Liverpool's strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. Q. Broci of Liverpool was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Liverpool's Š. Koš after 21 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 0 - 1 lead. With 30 minutes gone, Liverpool had a free kick in a decent position. Despite this being a great chance for a shot, they tried a cheeky move intended to bypass the defence. However, Š. Koš did not manage to connect with it cleanly and the ball went out. Due to some great work on the right wing Piestany's S. Boschetti was able to even the score after 34 minutes to make the score 1 - 1. After 36 minutes, Liverpool put themselves up 1 - 2, as Š. Koš finished off a strike from the left with a real cannonball of a shot. Liverpool's M. Konkoľ got himself booked for a foul. 1 - 2 was the halftime score. Liverpool had most of the ball, with 54 percent of possession.

The Piestany players listened closely to their manager, as he gave new tactical instructions for the team. After 59 minutes of the match, the manager still hoped to turn things around. F. Pinho was ordered to assume a different position on the pitch. He took the place of R. Natrup, who in turn replaced his team mate. After 60 minutes, Piestany switched R. Natrup with R. Beste, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. After 60 minutes, the Liverpool players received new instructions from their manager on how to keep in control of the game. Players in Piestany heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their central attacks to the wings instead. After 63 minutes of play, S. Pernický equalised for Piestany after an elegant attack from the right. Liverpool had a good opportunity to attack in the middle, but remembered their instructions to focus on wing attacks instead. The guests took the lead 75 minutes into the match, after a right-side attack resulted in G. Fiori scoring to make it 2 - 3. Piestany's S. Pernický was shown a yellow card after 79 minutes for slicing down an opponent. A loud groan was heard from the fans of Liverpool, as Q. Broci left the pitch in too much pain to finish the match. P. Nussbaum took his place on the field. 84 minutes in, Liverpool's L. Capella received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave Š. Koš from Liverpool a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 86 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! As A. Hassing had, completely unprovoked, swept the legs out from under an opponent in front of a linesman, the referee gave the Piestany player a red card without batting an eyelid. G. Fiori's experience almost gave Liverpool a goal after 88 minutes but the keeper made a great save. With the scoreboard showing that 88 minutes had been played, Liverpool nearly put themselves up another goal after G. Ambrosino came through on the left. Fortunately for the home crowd, the keeper made the save. The Liverpool players could smell victory in the air. E. Dženanović wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for G. Paulino after 89 minutes. The coach of Liverpool was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 89 minutes, B. Reens came on for T. Gössl. Liverpool claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 56 percent.

Piestany's best player was S. Boschetti. G. Viñambres turned in a dismal performance, however. Most important Liverpool player was K. Nogły. However, B. Reens made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 3.