SAVONA F.C 1 - 1 united (381854879)

Dark skies made the crowd of 21207 at DO DRAGAO a little nervous, but the rain held off. Marcelino Sánchez was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Quintin Sibold and Halil Albartun. Fans of both teams had been eagerly awaiting this Liguria derby and were doing their best to outshout their opponents. SAVONA F.C decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. They fielded: Avesio - De dominicis, van der Tuin, Glerup - Mac Seáin, Harmsma, Mélançon, Di Pierdomenico, Ouédraogo - Ricaud, Zgoda.

united tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Van Mellaerts - Gênio, Majeika, Skoko - Mirică, Vandycke, Malamov, Rozier, Shevchuk - Jenshøj, D'Amelia.

united used their ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the pitch, rather than on the wings. Given a free kick in a difficult position after 15 minutes, SAVONA F.C tried a variation that they had practised in training. The kick was sent into the area just in front of the keeper. However, the defence were on their toes and allowed no space for a finish. united took the lead 16 minutes into the game, making the score 0 - 1 after some elegant movement down the middle. P. Rozier was the scorer. 24 minutes in, SAVONA F.C's M. De dominicis received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. After 25 minutes, I. Ricaud made a dash down the middle past the away team's defenders to score the goal that made it 1 - 1. The referee showed united's I. Malamov the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. SAVONA F.C were very close to putting themselves one up after 29 minutes as I. Ricaud got through on the left, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. 1 - 1 was the score after the first half. SAVONA F.C claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 56 percent.

56 minutes into the game, A. Jenshøj almost gave the visitors the lead, as he clipped a delicate lob over the keeper, but the ball glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. Many thought P. Zgoda ought to have been awarded a penalty 61 minutes into the game, as he went down trying to dribble around Y. Van Mellaerts after a determined run through the middle. With 72 minutes played, P. Zgoda of SAVONA F.C fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. P. Rozier would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise. E. Kaeb entered the game for united as the match clock showed 75 minutes. SAVONA F.C had a chance to take the lead after P. Zgoda's dazzling drive up the left, but the opportunity fizzled out as his shot went just over the bar after 75 minutes. SAVONA F.C made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in on the right hand side left C. Mac Seáin completely alone with keeper Y. Van Mellaerts, who made a spectacular block. Always quick on his feet, SAVONA F.C's B. Ouédraogo sped down the field after 78 minutes, but his pass to P. Zgoda was just a bit too far ahead for him to get a good shot off. Some great play up the middle by SAVONA F.C led to a chance for C. Di Pierdomenico to score after 79 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. Possession in this half belonged to SAVONA F.C, who controlled the ball 52 percent of the time.

Most important SAVONA F.C player was R. Harmsma. B. Ouédraogo turned in a dismal performance, however. The most dominating united player was without a doubt A. Jenshøj. However, Y. Van Mellaerts made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 1.