Temple 2 - 0 Laval (381772497)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 23572 had shown up at La Bombonera for the match. Koos Broeders was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Martin Kiss and Oscar Muñoz. Temple started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Grubišić - Bortoli, Picchio, Oancea - Heldja, Schilirò, Piccioni, Patrizi, Tocco - Taras, Paris.

Laval decided to use a 3-4-3 set up. They fielded: Dordoni - Pirrò, Spagnulo, Losurdu - Pogliaghi, Nizzolo, Dei Rossi, Hemeter - Turino, Picchio, Gardini.

Temple's G. Piccioni was shown a yellow card after 2 minutes for slicing down an opponent. After a fine move down the middle J. Heldja nearly gave the home side a goal after 6 minutes. However the finishing shot went just wide. Slack defending gave Temple a chance to take the lead with 9 minutes played, but G. Piccioni's cross from the left flank was fumbled in front of the goal and easily dealt with by the opposition. Many thought J. Heldja ought to have been awarded a penalty 25 minutes into the game, as he went down trying to dribble around U. Dordoni after a determined run through the middle. 0 - 0 was the halftime score. Temple enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 62 percent of possession.

D. Dei Rossi would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise. M. Toncu entered the game for Laval as the match clock showed 46 minutes. After 58 minutes, R. Taras came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 1 - 0, giving Temple the lead. With 66 minutes played, Temple's R. Taras almost extended the lead, but his shot from the left glanced off the top of the bar to fall behind the net. With 71 minutes played, M. Picchio of Laval fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. Temple solidified their lead at the 73 minute mark, as G. Picchio dribbled the ball through the opposing central defence and scored to make it 2 - 0. By now, the players in Temple felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. Possession in this half belonged to Temple, who controlled the ball 61 percent of the time.

Temple's top performer was clearly R. Taras. However, J. Heldja made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Laval player was without a doubt M. Picchio. On the other hand, G. Losurdu's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 0.