GALAXY 5 - 1 Kachkeis (379847400)

The crowd of 3304 turning up at Thais today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Clyde MacAulay was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Agamemnon Nikitaras and Lars Zwöfjahr. GALAXY decided to use a 3-4-3 set up. The following players had been chosen: Martinovics - Lucena, Daudet, Piròli - Offringa, Tomé Viniegra, Schönholzer, Irelli - Jové, Biain, Moix.

Kachkeis tactics involved an interesting 5-4-1 combination. Lineup: Alekhnovich - 飯田 (Iida), Stauning, Martı, Krystyniak, Chiru - Mackel, Wołodyjowski, Rossignoli, Baião - Frediani.

GALAXY used their ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the pitch, rather than on the wings. It was obvious that Kachkeis were using their pressing skill as their primary tactic. S. Biain caused the crowd to go mental with his goal up the middle after 15 minutes. This gave GALAXY the 1 - 0 lead. 20 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as N. Moix broke through, making the score 2 - 0 for GALAXY. At this point, it was obvious that the players of GALAXY lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. Given a free kick close to the byline, GALAXY tried a move that loyal fans may recognise from training. A pass to the side pulled the defence out of position which let N. Moix slip through on goal. He didn't have to break his stride, and slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 3 - 0, 21 minutes into the game. After 32 minutes, GALAXY sent a free kick in high over the penalty box. In what looked like a well-rehearsed move, the ball was headed backwards and reached F. Irelli, who had plenty of space to place a well aimed shot - 4 - 0. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, F. Irelli got himself booked. The manager of GALAXY was not happy. It was 4 - 0 at the break. GALAXY enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 62 percent of possession.

Kachkeis had a fair chance to reply after 50 minutes due to some fine moves down the left, but in the end 成. 飯田 (Iida) was slow to keep up with the play and was unable to make it into the penalty box to apply a finish. The rain made it hard for players like A. Martı to show their technical control of the ball on this soggy day. With 58 minutes played, M. Wołodyjowski had a fantastic opportunity to reply but his shot flew harmlessly into the side-netting of the goal. GALAXY's R. Schönholzer had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 75 minutes having been played. A. Walkowicz was the replacement. A. Baião's early cross saw the defenders caught out of position and the alert N. Frediani was able to pounce and roll the ball past the hapless goalkeeper to score for Kachkeis. 4 - 1. 83 minutes in, GALAXY's C. Jové received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. D. Chiru's knee will be throbbing for days, but thankfully for Kachkeis, he bravely continued in the match. R. Tomé Viniegra should probably have put his team up another goal after 85 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by N. Alekhnovich kept the visitors in the game. J. Stauning acted foolishly after 87 minutes, giving the ball up to GALAXY's S. Biain who had no trouble finding the back of the net. 5 - 1. Possession in this half belonged to GALAXY, who controlled the ball 64 percent of the time.

S. Biain performed admirably for GALAXY. A. Walkowicz turned in a dismal performance, however. Kachkeis's top performer was clearly G. Rossignoli. J. Stauning on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 5 - 1.