Golbys 1 - 4 Xenopol (380780046)

The crowd of 34726 turning up at Lion's Stadium today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Emil-Sven Qualmann was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Arndt Plepelits and Richard Walch. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Golbys. The following players took the field: Szepesy - Chatzilakos, Horváth, Dettendorfer - Viņķelis, Iorgovan, Dinu, Heinle, Ganâncio - 立凡 (Lifan), Barone.

Xenopol had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Vautrin - Nabuco, Kulesza, Šátek - Linssen, Anghelini, Vecsei, Gavrilă, Betzema - Speelman, Boeru.

P. Boeru had a hard time on the waterlogged pitch - his trademark technique was nowhere in sight today. The most controversial moment of the game was likely the penalty given after 23 minutes. Xenopol's F. Anghelini kept his concentration, despite the upset crowd, and calmly put the ball past the keeper to make the score 0 - 1. 26 minutes into the match, Golbys's 杨. 立凡 (Lifan) maneuvered his way around the opposition on the left flank, delighting the crowd with his twists and turns. The effort paid off as the ball found the back of the net, evening the score at 1 - 1. T. Barone did not have a good day today, often losing his footing on the muddy pitch. This was a good period for the visitors, with several opportunities to take the lead, particularly when S. Speelman slipped through the defence on the right to come up alone against Á. Szepesy, but the home side's keeper showed his lightning reflexes. With 38 minutes played, Xenopol's well-worked indirect free kick caused havoc in the penalty area, and when the ball eventually fell to L. Linssen he gleefully slotted the ball home to make it 1 - 2. S. Speelman was, after 40 minutes, almost able to extend the visitors' lead with a well placed diving header after the ball had looped into the centre, but the home side's keeper Á. Szepesy made the save. Coming in from the right, Golbys had a good opportunity to convert on a counterattack after 41 minutes, but F. Heinle's attempt to finish was easily stopped. 1 - 2 was the score after the first half. Xenopol had most of the ball, with 58 percent of possession.

Content with how the game was proceeding, the Xenopol coach let N. Rãcaru replace P. Boeru after 65 minutes. The muddy pitch made the game a gritty affair, which seemed to suit C. Gavrilă just fine. 69 minutes into the match, B. Vecsei came through the middle and almost added to his team's lead, but the shot went wide. With 69 minutes played, A. Kulesza nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through in the middle and fired from just outside the box, but his shot passed just over the bar. After 80 minutes, Xenopol's A. Kulesza burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 1 - 3. After 86 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for S. Speelman who increased Xenopol's lead to 1 - 4. S. Speelman came close to extending the visitors' lead when he found himself completely unmarked in front of the goal after a pass through the middle. He tried to lift the ball over Á. Szepesy but overcooked it and hit the bar instead. Possession in this half belonged to Xenopol, who controlled the ball 63 percent of the time.

Golbys's top performer was clearly T. Barone. However, G. Horváth made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Xenopol player was without a doubt C. Gavrilă. C. Nabuco was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 4.