MIL 0 - 6 Maccabi-Ashkelon (380143595)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 12000 at San Siro today. Rodrigo Manzano was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jordano Coutinho and Alexey Lakaev. MIL tactics involved an interesting 4-3-3 combination. The following players took the field: Kondas - Durà, Cariou, Isenhagen, Sibum - Rozas, Zádori, Komi - Jenks, Goršek, Borfiga.

Maccabi-Ashkelon had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Corder - Bourdier, Heldring, Salazar - Apelgren, Simionato, Regolin, Fajardo, Musa - Versprille, Nikiforovskiy.

MIL used their skill at pressing to cut off the attack angles of their opponents all over the field. After 2 minutes, Maccabi-Ashkelon put themselves up 0 - 1, as A. Musa finished off a strike from the left with a real cannonball of a shot. A. Azulay was called on to replace MIL's T. Komi after 3 minutes following a nasty collision. Maccabi-Ashkelon's H. Apelgren had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 13 minutes having been played. F. Azevedo was the replacement. Maccabi-Ashkelon increased their lead after 18 minutes when A. Musa broke through on the right, upping the score to 0 - 2, much to the home crowd's dismay. Given a free kick close to the byline, Maccabi-Ashkelon tried a move that loyal fans may recognise from training. A pass to the side pulled the defence out of position which let A. Nikiforovskiy slip through on goal. He didn't have to break his stride, and slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 0 - 3, 27 minutes into the game. 36 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 4 as A. Regolin finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. By now, the players in Maccabi-Ashkelon felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. C. Fajardo received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 37 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 0 - 5. The Maccabi-Ashkelon fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. The home crowd cheered when, after 39 minutes, C. Fajardo's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. It was 0 - 5 at the break. Maccabi-Ashkelon claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 66 percent.

A drive down the left side allowed C. Fajardo to get in close and score another goal for Maccabi-Ashkelon after 78 minutes, taking the score to 0 - 6. K. Goršek of MIL received a yellow card after 80 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. At this time in the match, MIL were using their skill at pressing to successfully stifle the game. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Maccabi-Ashkelon, with 63 percent of the ball.

MIL's top performer was clearly S. Borfiga. A. Azulay was a disappointment, however. Most important Maccabi-Ashkelon player was J. Salazar. On the other hand, F. Azevedo's play was disheartening. The match ends 0 - 6.