Crossing 6 - 1 Liégeois (372950052)

71849 punters turned up at Crossing BXL Arena, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Fredrik Nederbom was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Isaac Abdala and Ingo Rensenbrink. Crossing started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Starters: Vandenbroecke - Dulatov, Tufan, Poli - Pouzet, Rozwora, Bystrikov, Dart, Marschnig - Fitzgerald, Bosmans.

Liégeois had chosen a strategic 5-3-2 formation. Lineup: Beaujean - Hasan, Van Herck, Prokić, Iman, Jackson - Ridder, Van Bellinghen, Gatt - Van Bellingen, Nys.

It seemed as though Crossing considered the game won before even taking the field, which resulted in a very uninspired start to the game. Crossing were mostly trying to use their skill at attacking on the flanks. Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for Liégeois. After 6 minutes of play, C. Tufan gave the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave H. Ridder from Liégeois a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 9 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! R. Dart of Crossing had to be helped off the pitch as an injury meant he was unable to finish the game. F. Desmet came in to finish the match. G. Fitzgerald became the new Crossing captain. W. Marschnig of Crossing seemed to be floating in the air as he elegantly headed in to make the score 2 - 0 after a corner kick that was nicely executed by G. Fitzgerald. Crossing put in a good effort on the right, but B. Pouzet saw his volley fly wide of the mark 17 minutes into the game. Against a lesser team, Crossing could very well have succeeded with their smart indirect free kick routine after 37 minutes. A trio of passes took the ball all the way past the defenders, but by then the intended recipient was already blocked off and the keeper could make a leisurely save. The goal to make it 2 - 1 was scored by H. Van Bellingen after 38 minutes, following an opportunistic counterattack down the middle by Liégeois. After 39 minutes Crossing's A. Dulatov contracted a slight foot injury, but didn't want to leave the game. Crossing were determined to attack on the wing and their central attempts were constantly abandoned in favour of the wings. P. Bosmans increased the lead for Crossing to 3 - 1, getting a head onto a hooked ball from the right. The ball looked to have taken a deflection on the way in, but he's claiming it! Attacking on the wings was the choice for Crossing, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. After 42 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and G. Fitzgerald gave the Crossing supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 4 - 1. 44 minutes in, Crossing's A. Dulatov received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. The teams went for the halftime break at 4 - 1. Possession in this half belonged to Crossing, who controlled the ball 72 percent of the time.

G. Fitzgerald could have increased the lead after 58 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. P. Prokić looked like he could fly, as he rose high to head the ball. Unfortunately for Liégeois, the ball went just barely wide. A speedy charge from the left side of the field increased the lead of Crossing to 5 - 1 as P. Bosmans finished it off competently, firing in from an acute angle. After this, you could see that the players of Crossing were more interested in killing time than scoring more goals. Crossing put themselves up 6 - 1 when G. Fitzgerald broke through on the right, leaving the entire defence trailing in his wake. The referee showed Liégeois's C. Gatt the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Crossing were forced into a substitution as P. Bosmans couldn't continue due to some rough treatment, forcing S. Ramstad to come in off the bench. Liégeois almost scored after a counterattack 81 minutes into the match, but H. Van Bellingen took a shot from the left that landed harmlessly in the side of the net. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Crossing, with 72 percent of the ball.

Most important Crossing player was B. Pouzet. S. Ramstad turned in a dismal performance, however. Liégeois's best player was A. Beaujean. However, P. Prokić made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 6 - 1.