Zona 3 - 1 Turbinem (381674946)

A scorching day at Lungo il Muccione, where 40000 spectators were in place for today's match. Victor Chirilã was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Gustaw Hejmo and Morgan A. Eriksson. Zona had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. Starters: Delpino - Delfino, David, Alemanno, Therkelsen - Somel, Castromil, Redondo, de Munck, Bertucci - Erman.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Turbinem. Lineup: Faraon - Gravagnuolo, Innacolo, La Cava - Lucioni, Vecchiato, Tuoto, De Castris, Piacente - Maass, Giganti.

The wings were the focus of most of Zona's attacks today. After 2 minutes, Turbinem's M. Giganti made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 0 - 1. With 12 minutes gone, Turbinem had a free kick in a decent position. Despite this being a great chance for a shot, they tried a cheeky move intended to bypass the defence. However, G. Maass did not manage to connect with it cleanly and the ball went out. A foul 40 minutes into the game resulted in a free kick for Zona. A. Bertucci took advantage as he curled the equalising goal into the top corner, just out of the reach of the keeper. 1 - 1. With 41 minutes played, C. Vecchiato of Turbinem fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. 1 - 1 was the score after the first half. Possession in this half belonged to Zona, who controlled the ball 54 percent of the time.

After 68 minutes, Turbinem's M. Tuoto fell awkwardly, but was determined to stay in the match. That's the spirit! Players in Zona heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their central attacks to the wings instead. After 70 minutes, A. Alemanno came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 2 - 1, giving Zona the lead. Several players seemed a little dazed by the warm weather, and were repeatedly tricked by the clever and agile X. David. The coach of Zona was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 80 minutes, R. Barruffi came on for H. de Munck. With 80 minutes played, Zona's R. Therkelsen almost extended the lead, but his shot from the left glanced off the top of the bar to fall behind the net. Zona's Z. Erman increased the lead to 3 - 1, after he saw his shot go between the legs of the advancing goalkeeper following some good play down the right wing after 81 minutes. Z. Erman wanted to play on, but the Zona coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 81 minutes into the game by P. Zampedri. By now, the players in Zona felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. Zona enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 58 percent of possession.

Zona's top performer was clearly B. Castromil. P. Zampedri on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Turbinem player was G. Maass. However, M. Tuoto made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 3 - 1.