United 4 - 2 **Galacticos** (374450058)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 37702 had shown up at St Jons Park for the match. Kjeld Christensen was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Per Holstein and Eugen Nedelescu. United started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Paixão - Nasarzewski, Julve, Foster - March, Oliván, Brown, Svejstrup, Urrea - Fernández, Janković.

**Galacticos** had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players took the field: Carcasona - Ali, Paulk, Dobrică - Galip, Parada, Duncan, Anandhakrishnan, Windhaber - Davidson, Hałaczkiewicz.

United's A. Fernández tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but couldn't get past the visitors' defenders. 16 minutes into the match, **Galacticos** nearly took the lead, as B. Davidson broke through on the right. Z. Paixão made the save, however. J. Janković was very close to giving United the lead with an ingenious free kick routine 33 minutes into the match, but the ball just grazed the bar. A well placed corner kick from J. Janković was followed by G. Nasarzewski's hard but accurate header. The well executed routine resulted in a goal for United, the score now 1 - 0. Some brilliant football from the visitors' right wing resulted in a levelling of the score as **Galacticos**'s B. Davidson put the ball in the onion bag after 39 minutes to make it 1 - 1. United's F. Oliván got himself booked for a foul. **Galacticos** were forced into a substitution as S. Galip couldn't continue due to some rough treatment, forcing E. Cotticelli to come in off the bench. S. Julve of United was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. The crowd gasped as S. Anandhakrishnan of **Galacticos** was flattened by an opponent after 44 minutes and had to be carried off. A. Baloy came in off the bench. B. Windhaber was the new captain of **Galacticos** - handed the armband by the departing player. United fans held their breath as A. Fernández scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 2 - 1! The referee showed United's J. Janković the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. In a rapid move 44 minutes into the match, A. Fernández of United lost his man and passed the ball to the unmarked J. Janković who easily hit it home to make it 3 - 1. Luckily the ref didn't see him taunting the opposing fans in celebration - naughty boy! An awe-inspiring free kick by A. Parada of **Galacticos** resulted in a goal 44 minutes into the game! 3 - 2 was the new score. It was 3 - 2 at the break. United claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 57 percent.

United's A. Urrea made use of his speed to get free of the defence, but he still couldn't get a shot off 69 minutes into the match. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. S. Brown squirmed through their central defence after 78 minutes, increasing the lead to 4 - 2. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by United, with 55 percent of the ball.

A. Fernández performed admirably for United. Z. Paixão was a disappointment, however. **Galacticos**'s top performer was clearly M. Hałaczkiewicz. On the other hand, A. Baloy's play was disheartening. The match ends 4 - 2.