milano 2 - 2 Brindisi (381757720)

It had rained all day, but 21106 hardy fans still made it out to Arena di milano. Berthold Neumann was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Karol Szyjkowski and Eugen Lazãr. milano tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Kondratiev - Johnston, Yoshikawa, Chamot - Oprinca, Priolo, Žeravica, van Altena, Markfort - Mallia, Holitzer.

Brindisi started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Campigotto - Massobrio, Vargiu, Guarise - Girelli, Muragghia, Manuello, Di Brandimarte, Buzzi - Cimbidò, D'Angelantonio.

Underestimation of the opposition made Brindisi players perform way below their normal capacity. The wings were the focus of most of Brindisi's attacks today. The corner kick from Z. Priolo was powerfully met by the head of V. Mallia to make the score 1 - 0. milano had to make a substitution after 30 minutes. F. Oprinca limped off the field and was replaced by L. Zaanen. With 31 minutes played, the visitors could have drawn level after G. Cimbidò came through the middle, but his kick went wide. Things were deteriorating for the away team as milano scored another to make it 2 - 0 after a left side attack resulted in a goal for J. Johnston after 33 minutes. 36 minutes into the game, Brindisi's attack got through on the right, but M. Manuello couldn't handle the ball and his feeble kick wound up in the keeper's arms. It was 2 - 0 at the break. This part of the game was a standoff between the teams in terms of possession.

After the half time break, Brindisi returned to the pitch without the complacent attitude they demonstrated during first half. After 50 minutes, Brindisi switched T. Buzzi with G. Barcaroli, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. Brindisi's T. Massobrio had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 67 minutes having been played. M. Schirripa was the replacement. Y. Kondratiev made a brilliant save 68 minutes into the match, blocking a rocket of a shot from M. Schirripa on the right hand side. Brindisi kept trying to force their way through on the right side and N. D'Angelantonio got his chance after 77 minutes, but the home side's defence held their position and stopped the attack. Z. Priolo unleashed a swerving effort from the right that the visitors' keeper did well to tip wide. It was obvious that Brindisi had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. Brindisi caught their opponents out with a clever counterattack down the right wing 82 minutes into the match. N. D'Angelantonio was able to finish off the move - 2 - 1. After 85 minutes, the visitors levelled the scores after G. Cimbidò made it through the middle and struck home to make it 2 - 2. Neither team was controlling the possession at this point in the match, with the stats showing a 50:50 split.

Most important milano player was M. Holitzer. On the other hand, L. Zaanen's play was disheartening. The most dominating Brindisi player was without a doubt G. Cimbidò. M. Schirripa was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 2.