ARDEA 5 - 3 Forza (381674762)

35864 punters turned up at Airone, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Dé van Helden was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Heinrich-Ralf Sauerwein and Hennes Kortenhof. ARDEA decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. Lineup: Sajkiewicz - Artioli, Perosa, Ghisalberti - Rienks, Alexandre, Fischer Rasmussen, Ramysen, Olivar - Mello, Helstein.

Forza had chosen a strategic 2-5-3 formation. The following players had been chosen: Vanden Broucke - Ţepeş, Krak - Ivgy, Perinu, Sparnon, Ruperti, Bernocchi - Grønlund, Asschenfeldt, Oliveira.

After 31 minutes, Forza's I. Ţepeş made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 0 - 1. A spectacular volley from J. Olivar almost resulted in a goal, but a good save from the keeper kept it out, and D. Mello could only knock the loose ball wide. The crowd chanted their encouragement as ARDEA's D. Mello came in from the right after 35 minutes and put the ball in the net to level the score at 1 - 1. ARDEA broke through on the left 36 minutes into the game, with G. Ghisalberti firing in from an acute angle to give the home side a 2 - 1 lead. 2 - 1 was the halftime score. Neither team were able to dominate possession this half.

ARDEA increased the lead as J. Olivar struck to make the score 3 - 1 after an attack from the left left him unmarked in front of the keeper. The coach of ARDEA was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 60 minutes, A. Argın came on for G. Perosa. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in ARDEA's B. Alexandre increasing the lead to 4 - 1. At this point, it was obvious that the players of ARDEA lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. The visitors got one back when F. Perinu finished off a pass from the left and scored after 76 minutes. 4 - 2 was the score. The referee showed Forza's D. Asschenfeldt the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. After 82 minutes, Forza switched B. Krak with S. Schiavone, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. After 83 minutes, D. Asschenfeldt sent the corner kick right to I. Ţepeş who headed it sharply past the keeper. 4 - 3! A speedy charge from the left side of the field increased the lead of ARDEA to 5 - 3 as T. Fischer Rasmussen finished it off competently, firing in from an acute angle. 87 minutes into the game, Forza's attack got through on the right, but D. Sparnon couldn't handle the ball and his feeble kick wound up in the keeper's arms. Possession was split evenly between the teams.

Most important ARDEA player was J. Helstein. A. Rienks on the other hand, had a terrible day. Forza's top performer was clearly F. Perinu. S. Schiavone turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 5 - 3.