Altarese 3 - 3 s.s.c (381787047)

It was an exceptionally sunny day for the crowd of 17750 that came out to Glass Park "Stelio Fornaciari". Tim Eriksson was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Dimitris Fanaris and Haşim Tokgöz. Altarese tactics involved an interesting 3-4-3 combination. Starters: Hemmi - Ardeleanu, Pérez, Janhsens - Pribyl, Quiñonez, Scialotti, Accogli - Sampirisi, Bachini, Bonati.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for s.s.c. Lineup: Vajagić - Frögård, Kintera, Doering - Stefoi, Mereută, Morroto, Balassone, Akker - Oger, Gilger.

Altarese tried to focus their attacks down the middle. s.s.c saw most attack opportunities on the wings. After 13 minutes s.s.c's M. Balassone limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. After 14 minutes, L. Ardeleanu sent the corner kick right to G. Scialotti who headed it sharply past the keeper. 1 - 0! Attacking on the wings was the choice for s.s.c, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. M. Mereută made a good effort at breaking through on the right, but the home team's left defence cleared the ball to a corner. The visitors kept the pressure on to tie the game when, after 37 minutes, M. Mereută broke through the centre and found himself alone with the keeper. D. Hemmi made a great block, though. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. G. Scialotti squirmed through their central defence after 40 minutes, increasing the lead to 2 - 0. s.s.c were desperate to get a goal back and pushed forward through the middle 40 minutes into the game. After a scramble in the box, the ball dropped to M. Balassone, who smashed it home to make the score 2 - 1. R. Coutinho was called on to replace Altarese's D. Hemmi after 42 minutes following a nasty collision. Halftime score was 2 - 1. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by s.s.c, with 55 percent of the ball.

The home side's L. Ardeleanu curled a free kick home after 47 minutes, putting Altarese ahead 3 - 1. The players of Altarese now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. The Altarese players could smell victory in the air. F. Bonati wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for U. Santarpia after 52 minutes. 53 minutes into the match, s.s.c replied and reduced the lead to 3 - 2. O. Stefoi scored on a marvellous cross pass coming in from the left. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave A. Frögård from s.s.c a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 85 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! After 87 minutes, Altarese's M. Quiñonez fell awkwardly, but was determined to stay in the match. That's the spirit! Some brilliant football from the visitors' right wing resulted in a levelling of the score as s.s.c's A. Morroto put the ball in the onion bag after 87 minutes to make it 3 - 3. A. Frögård knew he was in trouble after hacking down an opponent. Despite his pleading with the referee, the s.s.c player was shown a second yellow card and dismissed from the game. It wasn't a good day at all for H. Gilger. His powerful style of play just didn't fit the bill on this warm day. The referee showed Altarese's F. Accogli the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. s.s.c enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 56 percent of possession.

Altarese's top performer was clearly Z. Sampirisi. R. Coutinho turned in a dismal performance, however. Most important s.s.c player was M. Mereută. H. Gilger on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 3.