Cairo 4 - 3 Justified (374288137)

Clouds darkened the skies at Pyramid Road as 55200 spectators turned up for the match. Pau Guix was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Medard Modlitba and Henri Fontaine. Cairo had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Starters: McMahon - Moura, Bartolí, Vlassenbroeck - Sjölund, Glendenning, Jachimczuk, Calderón, Carrião - Mínguez Ochoa, Kaliszuk.

Justified tactics involved an interesting 3-4-3 combination. The following players had been chosen: Nicot - Küttner, Nucaro, Ichim - Pincella, Poiares, O'Connor, O'Clery - Pretel, Pradas, Korte.

Justified used their ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the pitch, rather than on the wings. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Justified's C. Nucaro after 34 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 0 - 1 lead. Cairo's L. Vlassenbroeck had a hard, curved free kick after 36 minutes that would have paid off, had it gone just a little lower. 40 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 2 as R. Korte finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. Cairo's D. Kaliszuk cut towards the middle after 41 minutes, receiving a brilliant pass and slicing through the visiting team's central defence, reducing the lead to 1 - 2. After 42 minutes, Justified's G. O'Clery burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 1 - 3. 1 - 3 was the halftime score. Cairo claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 62 percent.

L. Calderón challenged the visitors' central defence eagerly, producing a good chance 53 minutes into the game as he went for a through ball. But, as so many times before, the guests' defensive efforts got the best of it. Cairo didn't give in and with 58 minutes played A. Mínguez Ochoa was able to make the score 2 - 3 after an attack on the right. S. Sjölund of Cairo received a yellow card after 60 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Cairo's A. Mínguez Ochoa was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 77 minutes. A. Tolu was given a chance to change things around. With a shot curled in from just outside the middle of the penalty area after 82 minutes played, À. Bartolí of Cairo made the score 3 - 3. O. Tolvanen was called on to replace Cairo's D. Glendenning after 86 minutes following a nasty collision. Cairo took the lead 87 minutes into the game by 4 - 3, as D. Kaliszuk elegantly received a long range pass through the middle, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar. Possession in this half belonged to Cairo, who controlled the ball 60 percent of the time.

Cairo's best player was D. Kaliszuk. However, A. McMahon made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Justified player was without a doubt E. Pretel. On the other hand, K. Küttner's play was disheartening. The match ends 4 - 3.