WEILINHO 2 - 1 Sihlcity (369380837)

It had rained all day, but 9544 hardy fans still made it out to MACCABI WEIL Arena. Marino Della Valle was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Brage Normann and Michel Jooris. WEILINHO tactics involved an interesting 5-4-1 combination. Lineup: 敬颐 (Jingyi) - Passanti, Falagiani, Talvinko, Korenfine, Sarmanho - Bastianelli, Kirchhoff, Chaussy, Greda - Burdet.

Sihlcity decided to use a 4-5-1 set up. They fielded: Basinger - Vallade, Petruni, Potì, Gilli - Wetzel, Bergianti, Carlerberg, Carrese, Tschümperlin - Brethomé.

Sihlcity tried to focus their attacks down the middle. WEILINHO were very close to putting themselves one up after 10 minutes as R. Kirchhoff got through on the left, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. The rain made it hard for players like M. Potì to show their technical control of the ball on this soggy day. M. Korenfine spent most of the time in a heap on the ground today, his normally rapid movement hindered by the slippery pitch. Sihlcity's counterattacks created a good chance for M. Potì on the right after 33 minutes, but he could only look on with dismay as his strike rebounded off the crossbar. P. Sarmanho got left behind when Sihlcity's A. Wetzel made a sudden run forward after 36 minutes, finishing off with a neat strike. 0 - 1! After 37 minutes of play, P. Talvinko equalised for WEILINHO after an elegant attack from the right. After 41 minutes, the WEILINHO coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving E. Burdet off the field. C. Spindler took his place. 1 - 1 was the halftime score. Possession in this half belonged to WEILINHO, who controlled the ball 55 percent of the time.

54 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a WEILINHO substitution. A. Kartus came on for M. Chaussy. Slack defending gave WEILINHO a chance to take the lead with 59 minutes played, but P. Sarmanho's cross from the left flank was fumbled in front of the goal and easily dealt with by the opposition. After 60 minutes a very unfortunate collision in the penalty area led to Sihlcity's M. Potì being carried off the pitch and replaced by I. Jack. S. Gilli became the new Sihlcity captain. WEILINHO made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in on the right hand side left C. Spindler completely alone with keeper A. Basinger, who made a spectacular block. C. Greda would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise. A. Angel entered the game for WEILINHO as the match clock showed 65 minutes. 74 minutes into the match and the home team took a 2 - 1 lead after breaking through on the left. The scorer for WEILINHO was P. Bastianelli. Given a free kick in a difficult position after 80 minutes, Sihlcity tried a variation that they had practised in training. The kick was sent into the area just in front of the keeper. However, the defence were on their toes and allowed no space for a finish. With the clock showing 81 minutes played, a great pass from the defensive line of WEILINHO resulted in a counterattack that was smoothly brought under control by P. Bastianelli in the centre of the opposition's penalty area, but his finish went high. With 82 minutes of the game having been played, P. Talvinko received a blow to the hip in a collision and was unable to continue. WEILINHO, with no available replacements, now faced the prospect of finishing the game with a reduced number of players. WEILINHO claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 51 percent.

WEILINHO's top performer was clearly C. Spindler. On the other hand, A. Kartus's play was disheartening. The most dominating Sihlcity player was without a doubt J. Brethomé. A. Basinger on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 1.