Blasfemia 2 - 1 Narghi (381827622)

21775 spectators had come to Giuseppe Acciaio Arena this cloudy day. Alfonso Menacho was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Douwe Heinemans and Oddvar Skaar. Blasfemia started off with a 5-2-3 lineup. Starters: Guertin - Pedreiro, Dalsgaard, Poscher, Getz, Chillemi - Peyrard, Wernli - da Costa, Cerveaux, Harlow.

Narghi decided to use a 3-4-3 set up. The following players took the field: Pasolini - Bulgarelli, Pigni, Czesznak - Giovinco, Loddo, Sääski, Rocha - Mendoza, Enrile, Valantonis.

Blasfemia clearly had decided to counter-attack when they could. The corner kick from D. Valantonis was powerfully met by the head of B. Bulgarelli to make the score 0 - 1. Had it not been for one of the home defenders, R. Loddo would have put Narghi up another goal 8 minutes into the match with his audacious lob from the right wing. After 9 minutes, a counter attack by Blasfemia was converted into a decent free kick opportunity. However, the indirect free kick routine was easily anticipated by the defenders. A textbook example of how to defend a free kick - the attackers were left with few viable options. 37 minutes in, Narghi's B. Bulgarelli received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. 38 minutes into the game, D. Valantonis had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came R. Trimboli. T. Cerveaux knocked one home from a counterattack down the right wing, making the score 1 - 1 after 42 minutes. With the clock showing 44 minutes played, a great pass from the defensive line of Blasfemia resulted in a counterattack that was smoothly brought under control by T. Harlow in the centre of the opposition's penalty area, but his finish went high. 1 - 1 was the halftime score. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Narghi, with 81 percent of the ball.

Good work by the Blasfemia defensive line after 55 minutes produced a good counterattack chance, which cut elegantly down the middle of the pitch and found T. Harlow alone in front of the goal, but his shot whistled just wide. After 61 minutes, Blasfemia surprised their opponents with a breakaway counter attack. The defenders had to resort to a foul to stop it. The free kick that followed was a clever indirect effort that almost succeeded, but the defence read the situation well and the intended recipient was left ruing what might have been. The goal to make it 2 - 1 was scored by T. Harlow after 64 minutes, following an opportunistic counterattack down the middle by Blasfemia. The Narghi players listened closely to their manager, as he gave new tactical instructions for the team. Narghi had a chance to level the score as G. Enrile suddenly found himself free in the middle of the box with only the keeper to beat, but he misjudged the finish, and only managed to hit the bar. Narghi claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 81 percent.

H. Getz performed admirably for Blasfemia. B. Guertin was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Narghi player was without a doubt J. Mendoza. On the other hand, V. Rocha's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 1.