UZ 2 - 0 valencio (373071531)

28750 spectators had found their way to De Zwankendamse Hel !!, despite the heavy rain. Massimiliano Galeazzi was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Włodzimierz Marciniszyn and Patrik Godby. All of West-Vlaanderen was shut down for the day, as fans of both clubs came to the derby. A 4-3-3 alignment was the formation of choice for UZ. They fielded: Laurier - Van Wesemael, Vander Taelen, Mestdagh, Brandão - De Grijse, Wullens, Pedersen - Tarquini, Collard, Perin.

valencio started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Parés - Grosse, Meesters, Paz - Gavart, García de Carranque, Fleischanderl, Willem, Strube - Mateş, Høyer.

UZ were relying on their ability to counter-attack. valencio clearly preferred using their ability to attack in the middle. The visitors' central defence should have had no trouble clearing the pass to E. Pedersen, but the UZ player managed to shrug them off and fired a low shot past the keeper to give his team the lead. 1 - 0! G. Grosse did not have a good day today, often losing his footing on the muddy pitch. With 27 minutes played, UZ's T. Tarquini almost extended the lead, but his shot from the left glanced off the top of the bar to fall behind the net. J. García de Carranque neatly controlled the ball after a short corner, and knocked it on to T. Mateş who had the whole net open before him, but only managed to hit the post. P. Amico was called on to replace UZ's C. Mestdagh after 38 minutes following a nasty collision. The boggy pitch disrupted the game, especially for technical players like O. Perin. Coming through the middle J. Høyer almost scored the equaliser for valencio after 40 minutes, but D. Laurier made an excellent save, tipping the awkwardly curled shot past the post. With 41 minutes played, T. Tarquini could have brought this one home for UZ as he charged up on the left, but his hooked ball went just a bit too high. It was 1 - 0 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to valencio, who controlled the ball 61 percent of the time.

UZ's T. Brandão struck his penalty well enough to beat the goalkeeper and extend the home team's lead to 2 - 0 after 59 minutes. 69 minutes in, T. Mateş made an incredible run up the middle and nearly reduced the home side's lead, but D. Laurier refused to let the ball slip by him. It was obvious that team valencio had instructions to attack in the middle instead of on the wings. 86 minutes in, valencio's J. Willem received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. G. Strube of valencio received a yellow card after 87 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. M. Collard should probably have put his team up another goal after 89 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by A. Parés kept the visitors in the game. Against a lesser team, valencio could very well have succeeded with their smart indirect free kick routine after 89 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. valencio enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 64 percent of possession.

T. Tarquini performed admirably for UZ. P. Amico was a disappointment, however. valencio's best player was J. García de Carranque. On the other hand, G. Grosse's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 0.