Escrete 0 - 7 Atalaia (380416654)

Due to an all-day shower, 12000 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at Maracana. Thomas Feliciani was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Michael Miurrause and Sammy Sjöskog. A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Escrete. They fielded: Candeias - Fonte, Cunha Fernandes, Sardinha, Alexandre - Brito Carvalho, Bento, Pires, Oliveira Vicente - Margaça, Agostinho.

Atalaia tactics involved an interesting 2-5-3 combination. The following players took the field: Cendegui - Soares, Châtenet - Iaria, Dall'Agnol, Ponciano, Molena, Zheng - Pipeta, Marlier, Pagnozzi.

A. Molena slipped and slithered in the wet grass. His usual rapid runs were nowhere to be seen today. Some good play on the left wing created an opportunity for the visitors 11 minutes into the match, and C. Soares wasn't about to let it go by. He got past the defenders and fired a shot that the keeper just missed. 0 - 1 for the visitors. S. Zheng of Atalaia took advantage of a mistake on the home side's right after 16 minutes which increased the away team's lead to 0 - 2. After 18 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for L. Pagnozzi who increased Atalaia's lead to 0 - 3. Confident in their lead, Atalaia's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. After 29 minutes, Atalaia's S. Zheng burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 0 - 4. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, L. Pagnozzi got himself booked. The manager of Atalaia was not happy. 35 minutes into the match, L. Pagnozzi came through the middle and almost added to his team's lead, but the shot went wide. The teams went for the halftime break at 0 - 4. Possession in this half belonged to Atalaia, who controlled the ball 79 percent of the time.

After 63 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave L. Ponciano a chance to increase the lead for Atalaia, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 0 - 5. Against a lesser team, Atalaia could very well have succeeded with their smart indirect free kick routine after 65 minutes. A trio of passes took the ball all the way past the defenders, but by then the intended recipient was already blocked off and the keeper could make a leisurely save. Atalaia came close to extending their lead as L. Pagnozzi delivered a low effort on goal from the right after 66 minutes, but the angle was too narrow and the shot went harmlessly into the side netting. J. Agostinho of Escrete was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. Escrete made sure of not letting F. Iaria succeed with his speed. When an opportunity appeared for him, as it did 68 minutes into the game, speedy G. Alexandre came to the rescue and stopped the attack. The visitors' A. Pipeta took advantage of a misunderstanding between the home side's goalie and centre backs 69 minutes into the match. 0 - 6 for Atalaia. S. Châtenet received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 70 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 0 - 7. The Atalaia fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Atalaia, with 84 percent of the ball.

Escrete's top performer was clearly J. Oliveira Vicente. However, D. Margaça made a disastrous appearance. Atalaia's best player was P. Cendegui. A. Pipeta was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 7.