Samarcanda 2 - 5 G0BL1N (381729267)

It had rained all day, but 16894 hardy fans still made it out to Hole Arena. Joaquín Ramírez was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Thorsten Hoffmann and Stoffel de Graaff. Samarcanda started off with a 2-5-3 lineup. They fielded: Quirini - Opaliński, Böhmcker - Colthof, Skei, Thomson, Sedloev, Ruttolo - Olivier, Orbán, Honkoop.

G0BL1N tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. Starters: Merlino - Tüdeln, Peacock, Gikonyo, Garibaldi - Blokland, Franceschini, Diarena, Forgani - Callegati, Taverniti.

S. Honkoop did not have a good day today, often losing his footing on the muddy pitch. 0 - 1 was the score with 21 minutes played, after J. Callegati cut through the central defence and chipped home a goal for G0BL1N. G0BL1N increased their lead after 32 minutes when J. Callegati broke through on the right, upping the score to 0 - 2, much to the home crowd's dismay. After 37 minutes, Samarcanda's S. Honkoop swiftly ran past D. Peacock and nutmegged the keeper! 1 - 2. 41 minutes into the game, G0BL1N worked the left side industriously creating several opportunities to add to their lead, but just couldn't apply the finishing touch. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 2. G0BL1N had most of the ball, with 51 percent of possession.

After 55 minutes, Samarcanda switched R. Thomson with K. Katz, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. M. Opaliński was the new captain of Samarcanda - handed the armband by the departing player. With the crowd on their feet chanting wildly, some great moves down the right hand side after 56 minutes gave Samarcanda a wonderful opportunity to level the score, and K. Sedloev stepped up to the challenge. 2 - 2 G0BL1N's J. Callegati gave the visitors a 2 - 3 lead after 64 minutes with a superb strike from the right. That was his third goal of the match - a hat trick for J. Callegati. After 71 minutes, G0BL1N's E. Forgani burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 2 - 4. M. Garibaldi received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 76 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 2 - 5. The G0BL1N fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. At this point, it was obvious that the players of G0BL1N lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. G0BL1N claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 51 percent.

M. Olivier performed admirably for Samarcanda. E. Ruttolo turned in a dismal performance, however. The most dominating G0BL1N player was without a doubt E. Forgani. However, A. Franceschini made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 5.