steaua03 3 - 2 Arcos (379009647)

Clear skies welcomed the 2487 spectators who had made their way to LargaRoad. Jean Petillon was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Fredrik Strömskog and Wilhelm Pircher. A 3-5-1 alignment was the formation of choice for steaua03. They fielded: Lalescu - Bercea, Voinea, Nicorescu - Tucă, Thielen, Bonora, Meireles, Laslo - Mihăescu.

Arcos had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Starters: Bârleanu - Neusbaum, Álvarez, Elizaga - Kruiswijk, Lopes Rosa, Süren, Callejo, Gallardo - Certosino, Gordo.

The wings were the focus of most of Arcos's attacks today. A lovely run by steaua03's C. Tucă left his markers for dead and should have resulted in a goal, but the finish went just wide. They were singing the praises of I. Mihăescu 24 minutes into the match after his speculative chip from the middle of the penalty box found its way over the visitors' keeper to make the score 1 - 0 to steaua03. After 26 minutes, the visitors tied it up at 1 - 1 when a fantastic pass from the left was finished off by C. Callejo. 31 minutes into the game, steaua03 seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion and they fell to a inadequate level of organisation. The home side put themselves ahead 2 - 1 after 35 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from A. Laslo, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing. It was 2 - 1 at the break. steaua03 had most of the ball, with 54 percent of possession.

The coach gave his players an extra tactical briefing during the break, and after that steaua03 had solid organisation. Things were deteriorating for the away team as steaua03 scored another to make it 3 - 1 after a left side attack resulted in a goal for R. Bonora after 58 minutes. By now, the players in steaua03 felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. The visitors got a chance to pulling one back after 72 minutes, due to a defensive blunder leaving M. Elizaga completely unmarked. His strike was pathetic though, easy prey for the home side's keeper. 75 minutes into the game, steaua03 had difficulty finding their positions and their organisation dropped to inadequate. The visitors' right side was dangerous today; M. Süren made the home team's keeper look foolish as he easily reduced the lead to make it 3 - 2 86 minutes into the match. steaua03's E. Voinea had an excellent opportunity after 88 minutes, shooting after receiving a pass from the right hand side, but he missed the goal by miles! The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave R. Bercea from steaua03 a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 89 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by steaua03, with 56 percent of the ball.

The most dominating steaua03 player was without a doubt R. Bonora. R. Bercea turned in a dismal performance, however. F. Gordo performed admirably for Arcos. D. Bârleanu was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 2.