Steaua 2 - 0 Tau`ri (380812507)

20251 spectators had come to Ghencea Arena Tg-Jiu this cloudy day. Diarmuid Mulrooney was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Tobias Adolfsson and Grégory Le Dorze. Steaua tactics involved an interesting 5-3-2 combination. They fielded: Murphy - Ciupa, Sykulski, Dossena, Dobó, Vissenaekens - Longobardi, de Jesus, Popa - Brinkkemper, Bredow.

Tau`ri had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Starters: Nachwuchs - Duchesne, Rebello, Muzzu - Djupvik, Pavel, Kent, Papadima, Bucur - Oliveira, Jakovčev.

Steaua clearly had decided to counter-attack when they could. Steaua showed their counterattack skill 12 minutes into the match by breaking through the middle, with A. Dossena scoring uncontested for 1 - 0. With 16 minutes played, D. Jakovčev of Tau`ri fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. With 29 minutes gone, a long pass from the defence of Steaua resulted in a counterattack that set P. Vissenaekens free through the middle, but the keeper made a spectacular diving save. It was 1 - 0 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to Tau`ri, who controlled the ball 58 percent of the time.

Steaua's P. Vissenaekens increased the lead to 2 - 0, after he saw his shot go between the legs of the advancing goalkeeper following some good play down the right wing after 72 minutes. By now, the players in Steaua felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. With the clock showing 74 minutes played, a great pass from the defensive line of Steaua resulted in a counterattack that was smoothly brought under control by A. de Jesus in the centre of the opposition's penalty area, but his finish went high. The crowd gasped as D. Kent of Tau`ri was flattened by an opponent after 77 minutes and had to be carried off. T. Kowalik came in off the bench. Tau`ri enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 52 percent of possession.

H. Bredow performed admirably for Steaua. G. Longobardi turned in a dismal performance, however. The most dominating Tau`ri player was without a doubt D. Jakovčev. However, T. Kowalik made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 0.