Herzliya 4 - 2 Bubi (381027870)

41984 spectators had found their way to Herzliya Donkeys FC Arena, despite the heavy rain. ZhangCai Chih-Cheng was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Alex Signorelli and Gabriele Cavero. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Herzliya. The following players had been chosen: Ćwiertniewicz - Chartier, Blänkner, Hruboš - Amitai, Hadad, Gigli, Vilner, Jufriadi - Valentin, Huszti.

Bubi had chosen a strategic 2-5-3 formation. They fielded: Gavrilenko - Zeltzer, Sasson - Kadosh, Ameen, Shapira, Ben-Baruch, Elkin - Michaeli, Stern, Oscar.

Pressing was the tactic of the day for Bubi. R. Valentin gave Herzliya the lead as he successfully challenged the guests' central defenders, then slotted the ball into the bottom corner, giving the keeper no chance. 1 - 0 With 13 minutes played, L. Huszti could have brought this one home for Herzliya as he charged up on the left, but his hooked ball went just a bit too high. Coming through the middle A. Stern almost scored the equaliser for Bubi after 23 minutes, but K. Ćwiertniewicz made an excellent save, tipping the awkwardly curled shot past the post. The referee showed Bubi's M. Michaeli the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. M. Michaeli, who often relies on his speed, had a rotten day on the drenched grass. G. Hadad increased the lead for Herzliya to 2 - 0, getting a head onto a hooked ball from the right. The ball looked to have taken a deflection on the way in, but he's claiming it! After 32 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by L. Huszti might have resulted in another goal for Herzliya. However, D. Gavrilenko made a spectacular save. 2 - 0 was the score after the first half. Herzliya had most of the ball, with 55 percent of possession.

The Herzliya coach was visibly pleased with the score so far, but still ordered a few tactical changes 46 minutes into the game. After a short break after 46 minutes, Herzliya seemed to change their tactical approach a bit. After 55 minutes of the match, the manager still hoped to turn things around. O. Shapira was ordered to assume a different position on the pitch. He took the place of A. Stern, who in turn replaced his team mate. The bench was restless, and with 55 minutes passed Bubi's coach gave A. Blum the opportunity the player had been hoping for. A. Stern reluctantly left the field. G. Hadad had a fantastic opportunity to put Herzliya up another goal 57 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. The Herzliya free kick 59 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But was this actually a plan? The ball landed at the feet of L. Huszti, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 3 - 0! Content with how the game was proceeding, the Herzliya coach let L. Gur replace L. Huszti after 60 minutes. The rain made it hard for players like A. Blum to show their technical control of the ball on this soggy day. With 68 minutes showing on the scoreboard clock, Bubi showed some good skill and were able to reduce the score to 3 - 1 when E. Ameen got past the home side's central defenders right in front of the goal. R. Valentin should probably have put his team up another goal after 69 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by D. Gavrilenko kept the visitors in the game. Bubi reduced the deficit to 3 - 2 with a penalty placed perfectly beside the left post by Y. Zeltzer. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. T. Blänkner squirmed through their central defence after 86 minutes, increasing the lead to 4 - 2. Possession in this half belonged to Herzliya, who controlled the ball 58 percent of the time.

The most dominating Herzliya player was without a doubt P. Gigli. A. Vilner turned in a dismal performance, however. S. Oscar performed admirably for Bubi. On the other hand, E. Ben-Baruch's play was disheartening. The match ends 4 - 2.