Carnova 2 - 4 Hironica (381679287)

37531 spectators had come to Pancione Magic Arena this cloudy day. Eduardo Javali was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Thomas Hollande and Bo Swart. Carnova had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. Starters: Ololovski - Kostromin, Cortinas, Kitzingen - Kaziród, Amazonas, Harlacher, Kanepi - Bertinelli, Bastreghi, Sbandi.

Hironica started off with a 4-5-1 lineup. They fielded: Vergnasco - Romani, Gomucio, Crowell, Araújo - Schiti, Mühlenbrücke, Ungureanu, Spinelli, Envangelista - Orella.

It was an obvious ambition of Hironica to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Hironica's L. Spinelli after 6 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 0 - 1 lead. Carnova tried to even things up by sending a long ball towards the centrally placed strikers, but the visitors' defence got the best of this rather direct style of play. After 24 minutes a well-practised indirect free kick routine by Carnova was easily anticipated by the defenders. The players forward were so well marked, they were left with few viable options. A well placed corner kick from P. Gomucio was followed by A. Schiti's hard but accurate header. The well executed routine resulted in a goal for Hironica, the score now 0 - 2. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Hironica lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. Attacking on the wings was the choice for Hironica, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. Some fine movement on the left led to a Hironica goal after 40 minutes, making it 0 - 3. A. Schiti was noted down as the scorer. 0 - 3 was the score after the first half. Carnova enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 51 percent of possession.

69 minutes into the match, Carnova's J. Kitzingen collected a ball sent down the right and put it in the back of the net, narrowing the score to 1 - 3. With the scoreboard showing that 72 minutes had been played, Hironica nearly put themselves up another goal after A. Schiti came through on the left. Fortunately for the home crowd, the keeper made the save. After 77 minutes, Hironica raised their score by one when R. Envangelista's dangerous low cross was cleverly tucked in at the near post by D. Orella. 1 - 4. D. Bastreghi challenged the visitors' central defence eagerly, producing a good chance 78 minutes into the game as he went for a through ball. But, as so many times before, the guests' defensive efforts got the best of it. Had it not been for one of the home defenders, D. Orella would have put Hironica up another goal 82 minutes into the match with his audacious lob from the right wing. Carnova's S. Kanepi cut towards the middle after 83 minutes, receiving a brilliant pass and slicing through the visiting team's central defence, reducing the lead to 2 - 4. Carnova had to make a substitution after 84 minutes. E. Bertinelli limped off the field and was replaced by M. Alessandro. Possession in this half belonged to Carnova, who controlled the ball 52 percent of the time.

Carnova's top performer was clearly G. Sbandi. S. Ololovski was a disappointment, however. Hironica's best player was D. Orella. On the other hand, M. Crowell's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 4.