Vanquish 8 - 1 Dumbravita (380780892)

A brilliantly sunny day had enticed a crowd of 33523 to Liberty Center. Yuval Gliksman was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Berti Trinder and Olaf-Ivo Hochleitner. Vanquish started off with a 2-5-3 lineup. Lineup: Albu - Axente, Stroescu - Simonuti, Săvulescu, Lippe, Luchian, Kamrani - Bordeianu, Lucescu, Cârstea.

Dumbravita tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Starters: Zegarek - Gulyás, Rollaz du Rosey, Radu - Pérez, Jacquot, Deborde, Sáez, Lian - Carabajal, Kapepwe.

It was an obvious ambition of Dumbravita to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. Vanquish took the lead 2 minutes into the game by 1 - 0, as V. Cârstea elegantly received a long range pass through the middle, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar. Vanquish increased the lead as V. Lucescu struck to make the score 2 - 0 after an attack from the left left him unmarked in front of the keeper. The players of Vanquish now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. A. Rollaz du Rosey enjoyed the sunshine and demonstrated his stunning technique over and over again. A speedy charge from the left side of the field increased the lead of Vanquish to 3 - 0 as H. Kamrani finished it off competently, firing in from an acute angle. T. Pérez's speed was clear to see after 39 minutes, as he darted down the wing and released A. Carabajal who placed the ball into the back of the net to make the score 3 - 1. A. Carabajal had a lethal looking free kick that grazed the post after 41 minutes. Vanquish's M. Albu left the field after 42 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was F. Lachor. Vanquish's H. Kamrani was shown a yellow card after 44 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Due to a severely mistimed tackle, W. Lian of Dumbravita spent some time on the grass writhing in agony before he could get up and continue the game. With 44 minutes played, Vanquish put themselves up 4 - 1 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to V. Lucescu, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home. 4 - 1 was the score after the first half. Vanquish claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 63 percent.

After 49 minutes, Dumbravita used a short break in the game to take new instructions from their coach. The intense heat forced T. Pérez into making some errors because he couldn't seem to keep up with the others. 60 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as T. Bordeianu broke through, making the score 5 - 1 for Vanquish. The Dumbravita coach was desperate to reverse his team's fortunes in the game, and ordered his team to change strategy. Vanquish managed to extend their lead to 6 - 1 when V. Cârstea cut in neatly from the left side and struck a fine shot past the away team's goalkeeper. Cheers filled the stadium as V. Lucescu broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 7 - 1 to Vanquish. This third goal completed a hattrick for V. Lucescu. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Vanquish's R. Luchian increasing the lead to 8 - 1. Possession in this half belonged to Vanquish, who controlled the ball 65 percent of the time.

Vanquish's top performer was clearly V. Cârstea. F. Lachor was a disappointment, however. B. Jacquot performed admirably for Dumbravita. F. Gulyás turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 8 - 1.