Internacional 2 - 3 Catania (381885107)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 12111 at Pandora stadium today. Igor Massa was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Robert-Jan Bevers and Nicolás Magri. Internacional tactics involved an interesting 3-5-1 combination. They fielded: Dash - Balsbach, Pürheves, Cipriano - Kvasna, Corbucci, Abelsson, Medeossi, Freitas - Pacuszka.

Catania had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Da Costa - Kaasik, Hanghofer, Ravarotto - Verdiani, Norola, Spichtig, Castell, Timpano - Miranda, Polato.

Catania saw most attack opportunities on the wings. After the game, the most discussed event will probably be the penalty given after 5 minutes that gave the visitors the 0 - 1 lead. Despite the controversy, S. Hanghofer struck home the penalty, as cool as anything. 21 minutes into the game, Internacional had difficulty finding their positions and their organisation dropped to weak. The corner kick from F. Balsbach was powerfully met by the head of A. Freitas to make the score 1 - 1. This was a good period for the visitors, with several opportunities to take the lead, particularly when M. Polato slipped through the defence on the right to come up alone against B. Dash, but the home side's keeper showed his lightning reflexes. Halftime score was 1 - 1. Catania enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 56 percent of possession.

The coach gave his players an extra tactical briefing during the break, and after that Internacional had passable organisation. G. Spichtig came close to putting the visiting team one up 48 minutes into the match, following a solo raid down the middle, but B. Dash managed to tip the ball to a corner. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave T. Kaasik from Catania a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 52 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Internacional's A. Freitas went down after a savage challenge, but could continue playing after some medical attention. They were singing the praises of F. Balsbach 55 minutes into the match after his speculative chip from the middle of the penalty box found its way over the visitors' keeper to make the score 2 - 1 to Internacional. A. Medeossi had a fantastic opportunity to put Internacional up another goal 56 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. Catania's À. Castell was shown a yellow card after 60 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Catania needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 61 minutes Y. Da Costa made way for D. Haag. N. Abelsson was the unlucky victim and couldn't continue the game, so Internacional's N. Zaccaria had to come off the bench. The visitors didn't give in and, after 62 minutes, G. Spichtig got through the home side's central line of defence, rolling in the equaliser to make it 2 - 2. Attacking on the wings was the choice for Catania, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. With 64 minutes played, the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending. B. Miranda put the ball away for 2 - 3. The coach of Catania was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 71 minutes, E. Ruiz came on for J. Norola. S. Hanghofer became the new Catania captain. Content with how the game was proceeding, the Catania coach let M. Lehtolainen replace M. Polato after 71 minutes. Catania claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 56 percent.

Most important Internacional player was K. Pacuszka. On the other hand, B. Dash's play was disheartening. The most dominating Catania player was without a doubt S. Hanghofer. However, D. Haag made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 3.