mazzuk 2 - 0 PACO (381807249)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 32831 at Mazzuk Arena today. Luca Ciobanu was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Tonny Bergers and Robert Donachie. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for mazzuk. The following players took the field: Yerushalmi - Rapaijc, Dabija, Mencucci - Endrefi, Ravagnin, Visintin, Mezid, Finelli - Dzul, Ali.

PACO had chosen a strategic 5-4-1 formation. They fielded: Torquemada - Ajmi, Corbu, Craiu, Zähner, Delaune - Nordskär, Aguilar, Fuster, Dziubdziela - Chirico.

After a fine move down the middle D. Endrefi nearly gave the home side a goal after 6 minutes. However the finishing shot went just wide. mazzuk could have put themselves ahead after 10 minutes but P. Mencucci missed a volley shot on a ball coming in from the right. Coming in from the right, PACO had a good opportunity to convert on a counterattack after 11 minutes, but A. Nordskär's attempt to finish was easily stopped. PACO's P. Fuster soared above the crowd, but couldn't knock the corner home 12 minutes into the match. After 26 minutes, mazzuk were awarded a free kick. Rather than shooting straight at goal, the taker went for an indirect variant which seemed to take his team mates a bit by surprise. T. Ali did attempt a finish, but from an awkward position, sending the ball into the away fans. P. Mencucci caused the crowd to go mental with his goal up the middle after 28 minutes. This gave mazzuk the 1 - 0 lead. Halftime score was 1 - 0. mazzuk claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 79 percent.

The referee showed mazzuk's K. Mezid the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The home side's P. Dzul came close to extending the lead 76 minutes into the game. His shot came in from the right hand side but E. Torquemada managed to save it with an unbelievable reaction stop. With 83 minutes played, P. Dzul could have brought this one home for mazzuk as he charged up on the left, but his hooked ball went just a bit too high. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave D. Endrefi from mazzuk a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 84 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! PACO fans were dismayed when it was apparent no substitutes remained after E. Torquemada's injury. D. Craiu rose to the challenge and took position between the goal posts. With 89 minutes played, mazzuk put themselves up 2 - 0 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to G. Finelli, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home. At this point, it was obvious that the players of mazzuk lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. Possession in this half belonged to mazzuk, who controlled the ball 86 percent of the time.

R. Ravagnin performed admirably for mazzuk. A. Yerushalmi turned in a dismal performance, however. Most important PACO player was H. Zähner. On the other hand, A. Nordskär's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 0.