belondi 0 - 3 Ancona (380281356)

Dark skies made the crowd of 25734 at belondi Arena a little nervous, but the rain held off. Johann Schoberth was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Pekka Tuorinsuo and Dario Šarčević. A 5-2-3 alignment was the formation of choice for belondi. They fielded: Hirt - Rogoznikov, Jacquemain, Sordi, Cenuşă, Cerda - Błąkała, Riaglia - Janson, Spinozzi, Kőszegi.

Ancona started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Starters: Jacobsen - Tjäderer, van Geilswijk, Baruch - Christoglou, Danielsen, Lilja, Musica, Inocencio - Umano, Hereijgers.

For their match strategy, belondi had decided to use their ability to counter-attack whenever possible. The home crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief when M. Hereijgers was unable to put the ball in the net after his show of skill down the left 11 minutes into the match. He was seen beating the pitch in frustration at missing such a good chance to give his team the lead! A counterattack by belondi after 12 minutes could have resulted in a goal, but J. Jacquemain, coming in on the left, couldn't get the shot off. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Ancona's M. Hereijgers after 20 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 0 - 1 lead. Ancona came close to extending their lead as C. Umano delivered a low effort on goal from the right after 27 minutes, but the angle was too narrow and the shot went harmlessly into the side netting. Coming in from the right, belondi had a good opportunity to convert on a counterattack after 28 minutes, but M. Spinozzi's attempt to finish was easily stopped. The home crowd cheered when, after 33 minutes, M. Hereijgers's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. belondi's D. Janson was shown a yellow card after 37 minutes for slicing down an opponent. C. Hirt got a fingertip on M. Lilja's shot from the left 38 minutes in, and managed to keep the visitors from going up another goal. It was 0 - 1 at the break. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Ancona, with 87 percent of the ball.

Always quick and a menace to his opponents, B. Kőszegi was very close to getting through after 47 minutes, but he could only put the ball into the keeper's arms. Given a free kick close to the byline, Ancona tried a move that loyal fans may recognise from training. A pass to the side pulled the defence out of position which let T. Danielsen slip through on goal. He didn't have to break his stride, and slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 0 - 2, 57 minutes into the game. Had it not been for one of the home defenders, M. Lilja would have put Ancona up another goal 65 minutes into the match with his audacious lob from the right wing. After 72 minutes, a mistake by the home side's left defence allowed B. Inocencio to get through. He outclassed the home side's keeper, adding another goal for the visitors. 0 - 3. The players of Ancona now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. Ancona enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 87 percent of possession.

The most dominating belondi player was without a doubt B. Kőszegi. However, M. Błąkała made a disastrous appearance. Ancona's best player was C. Umano. B. Inocencio turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 0 - 3.