Makaira 2 - 1 Saints (381662819)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 44677 had shown up at Sun Tzu for the match. Wulfram Schein was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Rodrigo Pimentel and Mirco Macchini. Makaira decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. They fielded: Soares - Giuliati, Hansen, Middlebrooks - Crnko, Lukey, Mazzurana, Urbāns, Daguet - Birģers, Vassdal.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Saints. The following players had been chosen: Ion - Bardagí, Kosal, Hollman - Stagni, Escerza, Caiazza, Vong, Krajčír - Paez, Ferari.

H. Birģers would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise. D. Marcos entered the game for Makaira as the match clock showed 1 minutes. 2 minutes into the game, Saints wanted to bring some new energy to their game. Ş. Ion gave T. Yiğit a quick hug as he left the field. 5 minutes into the game, T. Kosal had a great chance to put his team ahead, but his kick from the left went wide. 15 minutes had elapsed when a great chance for Makaira to take the lead after a good cross from the right found B. Vassdal alone with the keeper, but he chipped it to the wrong side of the post. Makaira took the lead after 17 minutes as a result of L. Giuliati's peach of a shot from the right hand side of the box - placed beautifully in the top corner. 1 - 0. L. Giuliati of Makaira received a yellow card after 30 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Halftime score was 1 - 0. Makaira claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 59 percent.

A speedy charge from the left side of the field increased the lead of Makaira to 2 - 0 as B. Vassdal finished it off competently, firing in from an acute angle. After 59 minutes, Saints switched T. Kosal with B. Forrest, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. Morale on the visitors' bench was greatly improved when their P. Paez reduced the lead to make it 2 - 1 after 61 minutes, following a pass from the right. Saints needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 69 minutes P. Paez made way for F. Merhi. The Saints players listened closely to their manager, as he gave new tactical instructions for the team. A scuffle developed as players from both sides clashed following a tussle in the centre of the field 75 minutes into the match. After regaining order and consulting his linesman, the referee called Makaira's H. Hansen to one side and produced a red card for the player. Makaira enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 57 percent of possession.

D. Soares performed admirably for Makaira. D. Crnko on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Saints player was without a doubt J. Ferari. On the other hand, M. Krajčír's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 1.