Sdps 6 - 2 Liquids (374643108)

Dark skies made the crowd of 63000 at Kozena Park a little nervous, but the rain held off. Timo Parpola was the appointed referee with assistance provided by José Vila and Alewijn van der Stap. Sdps decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. The following players took the field: Mielle - Bouallaga, Niedźwiecki, Ylioinas - Proc, Bilardi, Abdalla, Antonell, Hochfeld - Kamlag, Pärn.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Liquids. The following players had been chosen: Osa - Conde, Schmitz, Nonchev - Salva, Salgado, Rijerse, Burggraaf, Martins - Carella, de Munck.

7 minutes into the match, Liquids's G. Carella demonstrated his famed speed as he raced past his marker and passed the ball to S. de Munck who chipped it in for 0 - 1. No matter how hard he tried, M. Niedźwiecki just couldn't get his shot past the visitors' right side defence after 14 minutes. After a fatal mistake from the away team's right side defence 19 minutes into the match, an alert V. Bilardi bagged the ball for Sdps, levelling the score to 1 - 1. The Sdps free kick 31 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But was this actually a plan? The ball landed at the feet of L. Kamlag, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 2 - 1! Halftime score was 2 - 1. Sdps enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 56 percent of possession.

After 46 minutes, Liquids used a short break in the game to take new instructions from their coach. With 54 minutes played, Sdps put themselves up 3 - 1 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to V. Bilardi, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home. With 60 minutes played, the Liquids coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around. I. Řehoř came on, T. Schmitz had to leave the fray. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Liquids's B. Nonchev was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 60 minutes. J. Petito was given a chance to change things around. Sdps solidified their lead at the 70 minute mark, as B. Pärn dribbled the ball through the opposing central defence and scored to make it 4 - 1. After 75 minutes, Liquids switched A. Rijerse with R. Benedict, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. Sdps increased the lead as J. Proc struck to make the score 5 - 1 after an attack from the left left him unmarked in front of the keeper. The players of Sdps now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. Liquids managed to reduce the score to 5 - 2 as D. Conde finished off a well-played combination from the left, easily carving through the defence. 87 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as B. Pärn broke through, making the score 6 - 2 for Sdps. Sdps claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 57 percent.

Sdps's top performer was clearly R. Ylioinas. However, J. Proc made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Liquids player was without a doubt S. de Munck. On the other hand, J. Petito's play was disheartening. The match ends 6 - 2.