Plamen 1 - 1 MT (380788608)

The 28444 spectators at Aleea Poienitei were in for an afternoon of sunshine. Paolino De Gregorio was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Néstor Tordera Ciscar and Alberto Macedo. A 5-4-1 alignment was the formation of choice for Plamen. Starters: Cârpaci - Oprea, Berindan, Olaru, Jercălău, Bularca - Isturizaga, Boldea, Andersen, Ion - Absec.

MT decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. Lineup: Rybnikár - Tudorache, Neidiger, Toromanov - Katzarov, Skiba, Nilsson, Păcurar, Bollaert - Jimenez, Hausmann.

2 minutes into the game, F. Nilsson almost gave the visitors the lead, as he clipped a delicate lob over the keeper, but the ball glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. 40 minutes of the match played, and a comedy of errors by the home side gave the visitors a chance at the lead, but P. Skiba, after finding himself dashing down on goal from the left with only the keeper to beat, sliced his shot horribly wide. With 41 minutes played, V. Toromanov of MT fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. After a fine move down the middle R. Isturizaga nearly gave the home side a goal after 42 minutes. However the finishing shot went just wide. The referee showed Plamen's L. Olaru the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Unfortunately for MT, P. Skiba was injured when the game became more physical, and he had to leave the field. F. Hernando replaced him. F. Hernando was handed the MT captain's armband. 0 - 0 was the halftime score. Possession in this half belonged to Plamen, who controlled the ball 60 percent of the time.

With 71 minutes gone, MT had a free kick in a decent position. Despite this being a great chance for a shot, they tried a cheeky move intended to bypass the defence. However, T. Păcurar did not manage to connect with it cleanly and the ball went out. R. Andersen gave Plamen the lead with a beautiful free kick after 75 minutes. 1 - 0! The crowd was silenced 76 minutes into the match as the visiting team's V. Jimenez came in from the left, levelling the score to 1 - 1. MT's H. Bollaert was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 82 minutes. Several players seemed a little dazed by the warm weather, and were repeatedly tricked by the clever and agile C. Bularca. Plamen's R. Isturizaga tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but couldn't get past the visitors' defenders. Plamen enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 59 percent of possession.

Plamen's top performer was clearly A. Cârpaci. C. Bularca was a disappointment, however. Most important MT player was T. Păcurar. On the other hand, F. Hernando's play was disheartening. The match ends 1 - 1.