inpackt 1 - 1 Kickers (381509241)

36743 punters turned up at deep inpackt Arena, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Reiner Lingenthal was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Răzvan Dumitru and Lieven Degrève. inpackt had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. Lineup: Matute Garcia - Murros, Graciet, Mazzeo, Lamekhov - Çelen, Bosque, Čaklais, Čepāns - Bīskaps, Saldaks.

Kickers started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Schaarschmidt - Arturo, Congestrì, Lévêque - Klam, Staden, Almeida Cruz, By, van Brussel - Vinterlind, Spicci.

A. Lévêque came close to putting the visiting team one up 15 minutes into the match, following a solo raid down the middle, but J. Matute Garcia managed to tip the ball to a corner. With 16 minutes played, the home side managed to get a 1 - 0 lead as K. Çelen flipped the ball in after a cross from the right. Against a lesser team, Kickers could very well have succeeded with their smart indirect free kick routine after 20 minutes. A trio of passes took the ball all the way past the defenders, but by then the intended recipient was already blocked off and the keeper could make a leisurely save. Kickers had to make a substitution after 21 minutes. A. Vinterlind limped off the field and was replaced by M. Skadiņš. It was 1 - 0 at the break. Neither team were able to dominate possession this half.

S. Graciet had a fantastic opportunity to put inpackt up another goal 50 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. Kickers's M. Skadiņš was shown a yellow card after 55 minutes for slicing down an opponent. The home team will be cursing G. Spicci for weeks; he finished off a great pass from the left, knocking it past the keeper without a problem. The match was level at 1 - 1 after 69 minutes. J. Arturo was ever so close to scoring after an excellent corner was beautifully flicked on by A. Lévêque, but the ball bounced off the post to safety. inpackt's J. Matute Garcia left the field after 81 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was C. Caprani. After a fine move down the middle S. Graciet nearly gave the home side a goal after 84 minutes. However the finishing shot went just wide. inpackt's A. Bosque had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 89 minutes having been played. L. Uldmanis was the replacement. C. Caprani became the new inpackt captain. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Kickers, with 53 percent of the ball.

I. Bīskaps performed admirably for inpackt. L. Uldmanis turned in a dismal performance, however. Kickers's top performer was clearly A. van Brussel. M. Skadiņš was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 1.