Surprise 4 - 3 CERNOBBIO (381744283)

27527 fans braved the pouring rain at Infadigable. Lenny Kammerlander was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jurek Matyja and Roger Corman. Surprise started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Dohrmann - Briatore, Mydejllari, Argappio - Godano, Bratan, Mühlberg, Gallo, Barrios - Paasiala, Ifrim.

A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for CERNOBBIO. Starters: Gallez - Spiridis, Arostegui - Tzankov, Sjömo, Eghbali, Inman, Lewflod - Weiermann, Frank, Llauró.

Making his way up the middle 2 minutes into the match, R. Gallo almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert J. Gallez blocked it to keep the score level. P. Paasiala gave Surprise the lead as he successfully challenged the guests' central defenders, then slotted the ball into the bottom corner, giving the keeper no chance. 1 - 0 CERNOBBIO levelled the score after 29 minutes to make it 1 - 1, as D. Tzankov struck home after a fine midfield combination through the centre, which left him completely unmarked. CERNOBBIO had several good opportunities to take the lead, especially 31 minutes in when J. Llauró came up alone against J. Dohrmann who managed a block. After 36 minutes, D. Tzankov sent the corner kick right to K. Sjömo who headed it sharply past the keeper. 1 - 2! Halftime score was 1 - 2. Surprise had most of the ball, with 51 percent of possession.

Surprise 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. The boggy pitch disrupted the game, especially for technical players like E. Frank. Surprise equalised after 63 minutes after a brilliantly placed penalty by M. Godano. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 71 minutes allowed E. Frank to score for CERNOBBIO. The scoreboard now read 2 - 3. E. Inman was ever so close to scoring after an excellent corner was beautifully flicked on by E. Frank, but the ball bounced off the post to safety. After a fatal mistake from the away team's right side defence 82 minutes into the match, an alert M. Godano bagged the ball for Surprise, levelling the score to 3 - 3. 85 minutes into the match and the home team took a 4 - 3 lead after breaking through on the left. The scorer for Surprise was J. Barrios. Possession in this half belonged to Surprise, who controlled the ball 52 percent of the time.

Surprise's top performer was clearly U. Bratan. J. Dohrmann turned in a dismal performance, however. J. Llauró performed admirably for CERNOBBIO. On the other hand, L. Spiridis's play was disheartening. The match ends 4 - 3.