Darkstadt 1 - 3 takk... (381662727)

The crowd of 50419 turning up at DunfAlò today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Xaver Osta was the appointed referee with assistance provided by David Furlong and André Sequeira. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Darkstadt. Starters: Rödingshausen - Beis, Salomon, Spreafico - Gorlani, Gigov, Ruscitti, Nisii, Guzmán Ibáñez - Lorentowicz, Zühre.

takk... decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. They fielded: Krzykowski - Kiconco, Voráč, Cutolo - Nyhus, Laganaro, Cid, Madon, Murdzek - Piechocki, Soraruf.

The boggy pitch disrupted the game, especially for technical players like G. Soraruf. 21 minutes into the game, R. Voráč almost gave the visitors the lead, as he clipped a delicate lob over the keeper, but the ball glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. takk... took the lead 36 minutes into the game, making the score 0 - 1 after some elegant movement down the middle. W. Piechocki was the scorer. A good free kick by I. Gorlani would have scored the equaliser for Darkstadt, had it not been for the dramatic save by the visitors' goalkeeper. R. Voráč received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 42 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 0 - 2. The takk... fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. By now, the players in takk... felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. Halftime score was 0 - 2. Possession in this half belonged to Darkstadt, who controlled the ball 52 percent of the time.

Content with how the game was proceeding, the takk... coach let M. Onnis replace W. Piechocki after 60 minutes. Darkstadt's C. Spreafico got himself booked for a foul. Darkstadt refused to be intimidated and, breaking through the middle, E. Zühre managed to slip the ball home for 1 - 2. The home crowd was not impressed when V. Cutolo came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 75 minutes. takk... were now up 1 - 3. takk...'s W. Krzykowski left the field after 76 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was C. Luttens. A. Guzmán Ibáñez, who often relies on his speed, had a rotten day on the drenched grass. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Darkstadt's X. Beis was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 88 minutes. M. Voccoli was given a chance to change things around. As the captain was no longer on the pitch, A. Gigov took over the role of being the Darkstadt captain. With 89 minutes played, the Darkstadt coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around. D. Markov came on, C. Spreafico had to leave the fray. Darkstadt claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 52 percent.

A. Lorentowicz performed admirably for Darkstadt. On the other hand, I. Gorlani's play was disheartening. takk...'s top performer was clearly U. Laganaro. C. Luttens turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 1 - 3.