FCA 3 - 2 Sulzbach (369178480)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 41104 at The Jericho-Horns Arena today. Eihartz Legarriturri was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Zakariyya Shariff and Bruno Lefrère. FCA had chosen a strategic 2-5-3 formation. The following players took the field: Lampela - Erich, Rigozzi - Suppiger, Klamm, Stremmenos, Numanović, Engurs - Cione, Avian, Zenker.

Sulzbach started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Starters: Papalino - Uranus, Tepla, Benea - Ben Yahia, Budianto, Geren, Dobler, Behnke - Cotti, Sauber.

FCA mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle. The visitors' central defence should have had no trouble clearing the pass to E. Suppiger, but the FCA player managed to shrug them off and fired a low shot past the keeper to give his team the lead. 1 - 0! M. Budianto finished off a quick charge from the left of the field by chipping the ball just past the home side's keeper, making the score 1 - 1 15 minutes into the match. R. Benea came close to putting the visiting team one up 31 minutes into the match, following a solo raid down the middle, but J. Lampela managed to tip the ball to a corner. Sulzbach took the lead after 33 minutes making the score 1 - 2. H. Dobler placed the ball out of reach for the home side's keeper after a fine move, coming in from the left. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 2. FCA claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 58 percent.

Central attacks were the recipe of the day for FCA, as they moved the ball from the wings to the middle with startling regularity. G. Stremmenos made a superb strike after 49 minutes with a shot straight in front of the goal after a long ball through the middle, but one of the visitors' defenders got a foot in at the last second and warded it off for a corner. The coach of Sulzbach was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 50 minutes, E. Stignani came on for A. Cotti. M. Uranus wanted to play on, but the Sulzbach coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 60 minutes into the game by R. Majdan. The Sulzbach players could smell victory in the air. M. Budianto wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for Ç. Göknar after 65 minutes. After 65 minutes FCA's H. Engurs limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. After 66 minutes, E. Numanović got through on the right and was very close to equalising for the home side, but didn't get the shot away. The crowd was on its feet 67 minutes into the match, as FCA's E. Numanović found himself unmarked in front of the goal after a dash up the left side. He calmly put away the 2 - 2 equaliser. FCA broke through on the left 72 minutes into the game, with G. Stremmenos firing in from an acute angle to give the home side a 3 - 2 lead. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by FCA, with 56 percent of the ball.

The most dominating FCA player was without a doubt B. Cione. However, L. Rigozzi made a disastrous appearance. H. Dobler performed admirably for Sulzbach. R. Majdan was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 2.