SalaOperatoria 1 - 3 Mercantia2010 (381957149)

10293 punters turned up at Arena Facchetti, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Jonas Bengtsson was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Donggala Purba and Davide Brescia. A 5-2-3 alignment was the formation of choice for SalaOperatoria. Lineup: Sierens - Gualandi, Ríos Baeza, Leiva, Boccabianca, Strandsjö - Schenderling, Moro - González, Gerdén, Moreni.

Mercantia2010 tactics involved an interesting 3-4-3 combination. Starters: Volkov - 汉诚 (Hancheng), Scholle, Filzwieser - Minonzio, Nicoletti, Canobio, Campaner - Weißkirchen, Blocker, Veloso.

SalaOperatoria were relying on their ability to counter-attack. The strategy for Mercantia2010 was to use their ability to press. At this time in the match, Mercantia2010 were using their skill at pressing to successfully stifle the game. After 18 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as SalaOperatoria found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to inadequate. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 19 minutes allowed T. Weißkirchen to score for Mercantia2010. The scoreboard now read 0 - 1. SalaOperatoria's N. González had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 25 minutes having been played. A. Laurenti was the replacement. 37 minutes into the match, V. Veloso came through the middle and almost added to his team's lead, but the shot went wide. 38 minutes into the match, the visitors put themselves ahead 0 - 2 as T. Weißkirchen finished off an attack from the left with a spectacular scissors kick. 0 - 2 was the score after the first half. Mercantia2010 claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 63 percent.

The coach gave his players an extra tactical briefing during the break, and after that SalaOperatoria had solid organisation. A defender managed to keep the ball from crossing the goal-line after a curling shot coming in from the right from C. Nicoletti after 61 minutes, and prevented Mercantia2010 from going up another goal. SalaOperatoria played a good counterattacking move down the left 62 minutes into the match, with C. Ríos Baeza finishing well for 1 - 2. After 64 minutes, SalaOperatoria's A. Strandsjö fell awkwardly, but was determined to stay in the match. That's the spirit! Mercantia2010's ability to press all over the field frequently paid dividends. With 71 minutes played, SalaOperatoria's A. Laurenti found an opening in the visitors' left side defence, but his shot was handled easily by the keeper. Mercantia2010's defence sent a ball soaring up the middle on a beautiful counterattack with 72 minutes gone, but M. Blocker's finish was met by the reaching hands of the keeper. The home crowd cheered when, after 73 minutes, C. Nicoletti's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. 74 minutes into the game SalaOperatoria managed a counterattack, but A. Strandsjö took a soft shot from the left flank that was easy prey for the alert keeper. M. Blocker received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 76 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 1 - 3. The Mercantia2010 fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. The players of Mercantia2010 now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. A. Strandsjö's lack of experience almost gave Mercantia2010 a goal after 81 minutes, but the shot went right into the keeper's arms. Possession in this half belonged to Mercantia2010, who controlled the ball 64 percent of the time.

M. Boccabianca performed admirably for SalaOperatoria. F. Sierens was a disappointment, however. The most dominating Mercantia2010 player was without a doubt T. Weißkirchen. However, F. Campaner made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 3.