ASTRACANTACUZINO 3 - 4 Maracineni (379621023)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and ASTRACANTACUZINO Arena saw a crowd turnout of 33521. António Lima was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Mats Pettersson and Foma Abakarov. ASTRACANTACUZINO had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Palivec - Khosravi, Savorgnani, Marian, Chardon - Tegbeck, Cerrageria, Szmodics, Parkkulainen - Chelsoi, Dop.

A 3-4-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Maracineni. Starters: Itacaré - Skrzypkowski, Prada, Rudzik - Szczawiński, Nikolov, Litã, Capatt - Rijnveld, Jáksó, Mureşan.

Maracineni seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. At 8 minutes played, B. Chardon came in from the right with the intention of giving ASTRACANTACUZINO the lead, but his rocket of a shot rattled the crossbar. E. Rudzik of Maracineni received a yellow card after 20 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. ASTRACANTACUZINO took the lead 30 minutes in, as M. Chelsoi broke through on the left and put the 1 - 0 shot just beyond the reach of the outstretched keeper. A really bad tackle inside the penalty area 31 minutes into the match gave the referee no other choice but to award the visiting Maracineni a penalty. J. Szczawiński knocked it home. 1 - 1 It was 1 - 1 at the break. ASTRACANTACUZINO claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 55 percent.

M. Parkkulainen would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise. A. Tãnase entered the game for ASTRACANTACUZINO as the match clock showed 46 minutes. The terraces were silenced after 76 minutes when Maracineni's B. Jáksó put the guests ahead 1 - 2, following an attack on the right. G. Prada received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 83 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 1 - 3. The Maracineni fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. ASTRACANTACUZINO's fans were urging them forward as they tried to get back into the game, and their vocal support was rewarded 85 minutes into the match as A. Tegbeck ran onto a beautiful ball played through the visitors' defence and slotted it past the keeper to reduce the deficit. 2 - 3. ASTRACANTACUZINO made it 3 - 3 as S. Marian got a touch to the floated corner kick and flicked the ball to A. Tãnase who whipped a low drive in off the far post. ASTRACANTACUZINO enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 59 percent of possession.

With the scores being level after 90 minutes, the match went into extra time. Some great play up the middle by ASTRACANTACUZINO led to a chance for A. Tegbeck to score after 97 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Maracineni's E. Nikolov after 102 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 3 - 4 lead. Extra time over, Maracineni were the victors! The most dominating ASTRACANTACUZINO player was without a doubt M. Dop. S. Marian was a disappointment, however. D. Mureşan performed admirably for Maracineni. However, E. Rudzik made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 3 - 4.