Gunners 4 - 1 Sonic (368323305)

40040 fans braved the pouring rain at Golanhøgda Stadion. Liviu Dincã was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Dan Pettersson and Filip Øland. Gunners started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Gomar - Laure, Mpougatsas, Stefov - Roijen, Lunenburg, Kindbrant, Bertoni, Storkow - van IJzerloo, Minyaev.

A 3-4-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Sonic. The following players had been chosen: Angeloni - Evensen, Simonsen, Hansen - D'Amelia, Mathiasson, Johannessen, Fredriksson - Horn, Christensen, Fàbrega.

M. Roijen was having a great game - if anything the pouring rain seemed to be spurring him on! L. Evensen did not have a good day today, often losing his footing on the muddy pitch. Gunners took the lead 20 minutes into the game by 1 - 0, as E. Laure elegantly received a long range pass through the middle, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave T. Mathiasson from Sonic a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 26 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! T. Horn has acquired a talent for predicting the movements of the opposing defence over the years and this almost resulted in a goal 33 minutes into the match. Gunners solidified their lead at the 41 minute mark, as F. van IJzerloo dribbled the ball through the opposing central defence and scored to make it 2 - 0. L. Storkow increased Gunners's lead to 3 - 0 with a penalty spot cannonball. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Gunners lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, P. Lunenburg got himself booked. The manager of Gunners was not happy. Gunners managed to extend their lead to 4 - 0 when F. van IJzerloo cut in neatly from the left side and struck a fine shot past the away team's goalkeeper. Sonic kept trying to force their way through on the right side and A. Fàbrega got his chance after 44 minutes, but the home side's defence held their position and stopped the attack. It was 4 - 0 at the break. Possession was split evenly between the teams.

With 49 minutes played, the excellent ball from the wing by Sonic's G. D'Amelia reached L. Christensen's head, and he is not one to miss such an opportunity - 4 - 1. 64 minutes in, Gunners's I. Minyaev received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Sonic were forced into a substitution as G. D'Amelia couldn't continue due to some rough treatment, forcing J. Lia to come in off the bench. With 73 minutes played, M. Roijen of Gunners fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. The coach of Gunners was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 76 minutes, E. Jaunich came on for R. Gomar. F. van IJzerloo should probably have put his team up another goal after 80 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by C. Angeloni kept the visitors in the game. Gunners had most of the ball, with 53 percent of possession.

The most dominating Gunners player was without a doubt I. Minyaev. M. Roijen was a disappointment, however. A. Fàbrega performed admirably for Sonic. J. Lia turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 4 - 1.