Kriminal 1 - 3 Bucuresti (380791524)

28104 punters turned up at Kriminal Arena, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Donald van Sprundel was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Giuseppe Consoli and Arvydas Žiemys. Fans of both teams had been eagerly awaiting this Bucureşti derby and were doing their best to outshout their opponents. Kriminal tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Loręcki - Tamme, Żylicz, Bispo - Duţu, Gripenberg, Brannetti, Murmann, Mák - Huchon, Saygül.

A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Bucuresti. The following players had been chosen: Boicescu - Grobelšek, Franchet - Leuzzi, Olăroiu, Tronaru, Pirletti, Swoboda - Boccaccio, Trenta, Simonet.

The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Bucuresti's G. Trenta after 2 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 0 - 1 lead. 7 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 2 as J. Grobelšek finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. R. Żylicz sailed high above the opponents as he headed in a corner kick from R. Tamme after 24 minutes of play, making the score 1 - 2. K. Swoboda received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 25 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 1 - 3. The Bucuresti fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. It was 1 - 3 at the break. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Bucuresti, with 52 percent of the ball.

C. Saygül charged down the left and looked sure to score for Kriminal 55 minutes into the game, but his shot went just wide. Had it not been for one of the home defenders, J. Simonet would have put Bucuresti up another goal 61 minutes into the match with his audacious lob from the right wing. The referee showed Bucuresti's A. Tronaru the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. A misunderstanding between the visitors' keeper R. Boicescu and his left defence could have resulted in a goal for Kriminal, but R. Tamme's finish was way too lame. C. Saygül challenged the visitors' central defence eagerly, producing a good chance 83 minutes into the game as he went for a through ball. But, as so many times before, the guests' defensive efforts got the best of it. Kriminal enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 51 percent of possession.

Most important Kriminal player was C. Loręcki. On the other hand, O. Mák's play was disheartening. Bucuresti's top performer was clearly G. Trenta. However, R. Boicescu made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 3.