ARSENAL 2 - 1 1972 (381900697)

The crowd of 15044 turning up at GUNNERS STADIUM today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Kei Platte was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Tomasz Fliszkiewicz and Luis Schebesta. ARSENAL started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. Lineup: Ratkevich - Hooyberghs, Tenaglia, Buitelaar, Fortiana - Camporini, Ferrer Sax, Ahja, Ayala - Ostendorff, Meerdink.

1972 decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. They fielded: Flamlind - Öst, Maximin, Byrtek - Hanssen, Allocco, Artoni, Mydejllari, Morriën - Hansson, Arcuato.

The celebrations in the stands could only mean one thing - B. Ferrer Sax's free kick had found the back of the net and put ARSENAL ahead 1 - 0! 16 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as R. Meerdink broke through, making the score 2 - 0 for ARSENAL. It was a bad day for the usually speedy R. Meerdink. The mud seemed to slow him down. Coming in on the left, P. Allocco did everything right to get a goal for 1972 after 31 minutes, but his finishing shot was stabbed clear by the keeper. C. Arcuato could've grabbed a goal for 1972 35 minutes in when he got a pass from the left putting him free of the home side's defence, but he was unable to take advantage of the situation. The teams went for the halftime break at 2 - 0. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by 1972, with 54 percent of the ball.

After 63 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by J. Ahja might have resulted in another goal for ARSENAL. However, J. Flamlind made a spectacular save. 65 minutes into the game, A. Ratkevich had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came H. Hoffmann. B. Morriën was having a great game - if anything the pouring rain seemed to be spurring him on! ARSENAL put in a good effort on the right, but R. Meerdink saw his volley fly wide of the mark 71 minutes into the game. Content with how the game was proceeding, the ARSENAL coach let G. Margheri replace G. Camporini after 75 minutes. ARSENAL's defence sent a ball soaring up the middle on a beautiful counterattack with 76 minutes gone, but B. Ferrer Sax's finish was met by the reaching hands of the keeper. The home crowd was silenced as C. Arcuato took a successful penalty shot 77 minutes into the game, reducing the home lead to 2 - 1. The coach of ARSENAL was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 80 minutes, D. Pezzella came on for R. Ostendorff. 1972 had most of the ball, with 55 percent of possession.

R. Buitelaar performed admirably for ARSENAL. G. Margheri was a disappointment, however. The most dominating 1972 player was without a doubt C. Arcuato. However, J. Flamlind made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 1.