Fortitudo 2 - 1 Rutti (381733464)

31224 punters turned up at Arena Valle Santa, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Ortfried Greßmann was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Bertil Møller and Gerhard Riegler. Fortitudo had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players took the field: Dempsey - Wörner, Shtonov, Corona - Lauffs, Lanteri, Boselli, Manasseri, Pittore - San Juan, Pantelić.

Rutti decided to use a 2-5-3 set up. They fielded: Canares - Deme, Bombi - Musini, Vaquero, Kendrick, Grilj, Seccia - Tortone, Karadzovski, Grzelak.

2 minutes in, Rutti's V. Vaquero received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. M. Pittore was the unlucky victim and couldn't continue the game, so Fortitudo's F. Angulo had to come off the bench. Rutti had several good opportunities to take the lead, especially 10 minutes in when A. Grzelak came up alone against D. Dempsey who managed a block. There was concern in the stands when, at the 32 minute mark, Rutti's P. Musini hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave R. Corona from Fortitudo a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 36 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Fortitudo fans held their breath as V. Shtonov scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 1 - 0! Rutti's P. Musini got himself booked for a foul. Halftime score was 1 - 0. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Rutti, with 51 percent of the ball.

Fortitudo's J. San Juan swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. With 68 minutes played, Fortitudo put themselves up 2 - 0 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to A. Boselli, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home. The home team's fans were upset when, after 72 minutes, the visiting M. Tortone broke through the central defence and kicked the ball past the keeper. 2 - 1 was the score. After 74 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by F. Angulo might have resulted in another goal for Fortitudo. However, S. Canares made a spectacular save. Fortitudo's R. Corona saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates after 77 minutes. With 83 minutes played, J. San Juan of Fortitudo fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. Rutti enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 51 percent of possession.

Most important Fortitudo player was A. Boselli. F. Angulo on the other hand, had a terrible day. Rutti's top performer was clearly V. Vaquero. On the other hand, S. Canares's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 1.