Arsenal 5 - 2 PINGVINS (381517671)

The 49842 spectators at Kuwait Petrolium Stadium were in for an afternoon of sunshine. Meir 'Judge' Shamgar was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Stevie Willett and Joaquín Echarri. Arsenal decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. Starters: Mariman - Hārdijs, Totland, Bulmanis, Läfsjö - Senzanonna, Ring, Chevalier, Piñero - Denys, Vecchio.

PINGVINS started off with a 3-4-3 lineup. The following players took the field: Carayol - Roldán, Paredes, Loigny - Canijn, Ulmanis, Lēvalds, Baklāns - Hartvigsen, Ericsson, Tobolov.

Arsenal showed off their creative tactics. F. Tobolov hit the ball perfectly after 11 minutes to score for PINGVINS with a fabulous long shot. 0 - 1. B. Denys was just a finger's breadth away from an equaliser for Arsenal with a strike from the left, but B. Carayol managed to ward the shot off for a corner. Proving his experience, R. Piñero scored 1 - 1 for Arsenal after putting some pressure on the opposing defence at a critical moment. V. Hārdijs sailed high above the opponents as he headed in a corner kick from P. Chevalier after 34 minutes of play, making the score 2 - 1. After 36 minutes, the visitors tied it up at 2 - 2 when a fantastic pass from the left was finished off by K. Hartvigsen. The visitors' central defence should have had no trouble clearing the pass to P. Chevalier, but the Arsenal player managed to shrug them off and fired a low shot past the keeper to give his team the lead. 3 - 2! 3 - 2 was the halftime score. Arsenal claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 54 percent.

PINGVINS needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 46 minutes A. Baklāns made way for F. Dobis. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, PINGVINS's V. Loigny was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 46 minutes. H. Luomanen was given a chance to change things around. With 55 minutes played, the PINGVINS coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around. M. Susoev came on, J. Lēvalds had to leave the fray. A speedy charge from the left side of the field increased the lead of Arsenal to 4 - 2 as J. Ring finished it off competently, firing in from an acute angle. After 73 minutes PINGVINS's H. Luomanen limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. With 81 minutes played, R. Piñero could have brought this one home for Arsenal as he charged up on the left, but his hooked ball went just a bit too high. Cheers filled the stadium as P. Chevalier broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 5 - 2 to Arsenal. PINGVINS's K. Hartvigsen got himself booked for a foul. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Arsenal, with 53 percent of the ball.

The most dominating Arsenal player was without a doubt J. Ring. On the other hand, R. Läfsjö's play was disheartening. PINGVINS's best player was K. Hartvigsen. H. Luomanen was a disappointment, however. The match ends 5 - 2.