S.C. 1 - 1 NPRFC (375945563)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 45433 at COLISEU TRICOLOR today. David Fransson was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Marc Reuth and Giuseppe Italiano. Fans of both teams had been eagerly awaiting this São Paulo derby and were doing their best to outshout their opponents. S.C. tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players took the field: Højer Nielsen - van Dulmen, Zlatković, Weißensteiner - Moura Cruz, Wiesensteig, Pavone, Padera, Poeta - Pizzolato, Kreek.

NPRFC decided to use a 4-3-3 set up. The following players had been chosen: Siener - Maze, Sanabria, Goetze, Abarrategui - Roso, Scortechini, D'Agueda - Eigendorf, Prévost, Vešović.

S.C. mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle. NPRFC were relying on their ability to counter-attack. NPRFC's counterattack was impressive and was only stopped by a shocking foul. Somehow, the referee's cards remained in his pocket - a terrible decision! B. Prévost's resulting free kick was easily saved by the keeper. After 10 minutes of play, D. Moura Cruz gave the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right. There was concern in the stands when, at the 25 minute mark, S.C.'s N. Højer Nielsen hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. 1 - 0 was the score after the first half. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by S.C., with 64 percent of the ball.

L. Vešović's lightning pace was too much for N. Zlatković who could only look on as the NPRFC player blasted one home. 1 - 1. S.C. were awarded a penalty after 58 minutes of play, but M. Padera's shot skimmed just wide. With 66 minutes gone, a long pass from the defence of NPRFC resulted in a counterattack that set L. Abarrategui free through the middle, but the keeper made a spectacular diving save. S.C. enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 64 percent of possession.

S.C.'s top performer was clearly F. Pizzolato. However, D. Moura Cruz made a disastrous appearance. NPRFC's best player was E. Goetze. H. Siener on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 1.