POPPER 1 - 4 Atlético (378514965)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and El Jardin de la Alegria saw a crowd turnout of 2074. Francisco Gorosabel was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Mario Valentín Castrado and Adesvara Sadagopan. POPPER decided to use a 3-4-3 set up. The following players had been chosen: Hellem - Broda, Tirol, Gaston - Moll, Lilie, Kielpinski, Cappadoro - Simionică, Barzasi, Jaremchuk.

Atlético started off with a 3-4-3 lineup. Starters: Schutz - Hoeneveld, Johansen, Garbett - Alberdi, Weener, Vojvoda, Tanfara - Jelleyman, Pasiña, Maglione.

The wings were the focus of most of POPPER's attacks today. The referee showed Atlético's C. Hoeneveld the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. POPPER took the lead 9 minutes in, as A. Jaremchuk broke through on the left and put the 1 - 0 shot just beyond the reach of the outstretched keeper. Given a free kick close to the byline, Atlético tried a move that loyal fans may recognise from training. A pass to the side pulled the defence out of position which let J. Jelleyman slip through on goal. He didn't have to break his stride, and slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 1 - 1, 17 minutes into the game. After 20 minutes, the Atlético coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving J. Jelleyman off the field. I. Aranda took his place. POPPER had a good opportunity to attack in the middle, but remembered their instructions to focus on wing attacks instead. 1 - 1 was the score after the first half. POPPER claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 52 percent.

The most controversial moment of the game was likely the penalty given after 48 minutes. Atlético's J. Johansen kept his concentration, despite the upset crowd, and calmly put the ball past the keeper to make the score 1 - 2. With 72 minutes gone, POPPER had a free kick in a decent position. Despite this being a great chance for a shot, they tried a cheeky move intended to bypass the defence. However, H. Moll did not manage to connect with it cleanly and the ball went out. POPPER's M. Lilie had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 74 minutes having been played. M. Romano was the replacement. With 77 minutes played, Atlético put themselves up 1 - 3 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was J. Johansen. J. Vojvoda increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 1 - 4. Had it not been for one of the home defenders, S. Maglione would have put Atlético up another goal 81 minutes into the match with his audacious lob from the right wing. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by POPPER, with 56 percent of the ball.

POPPER's top performer was clearly M. Romano. X. Gaston on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Atlético player was C. Hoeneveld. However, J. Alberdi made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 4.