Savafc 4 - 2 RABID (382132267)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 3210 at Savafc Arena today. Johny Knipping was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Kasper Jarosławski and Rainer Asperg. Savafc had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. Lineup: Maddiona - Bisio, Lattante, Lemma, Diana - Incatasciato, Casolari, Minichino, Taliani - Giacopello, Guasti.

RABID decided to use a 3-4-3 set up. Starters: Iloaie - Telus, Hani, Oh - Lend, Negri, Fernández, Wojdat - Urbansson, Kujawiński, Pitault.

The wings were the focus of most of RABID's attacks today. U. Minichino caused the crowd to go mental with his goal up the middle after 7 minutes. This gave Savafc the 1 - 0 lead. Things were deteriorating for the away team as Savafc scored another to make it 2 - 0 after a left side attack resulted in a goal for E. Incatasciato after 19 minutes. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Savafc lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave G. Giacopello from Savafc a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 24 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! L. Rocchia was called on to replace Savafc's L. Taliani after 32 minutes following a nasty collision. As the captain was no longer on the pitch, A. Lattante took over the role of being the Savafc captain. 2 - 0 was the score after the first half. Possession in this half belonged to Savafc, who controlled the ball 51 percent of the time.

RABID needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 46 minutes H. Hani made way for N. Fafalitis. J. Fernández became the new RABID captain. E. Incatasciato almost put Savafc ahead another goal when he curled a free kick over the defensive wall and almost into the net, but the visitors' keeper got there just in time to knock it wide. Attacking on the wings was the choice for RABID, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. J. Telus stunned the crowd with a brilliant counterattack from the left, giving RABID the goal to make it 2 - 1. Savafc's L. Rocchia was shown a yellow card after 66 minutes for slicing down an opponent. 67 minutes into the game, B. Kujawiński had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came L. Guilbault. Savafc almost scored after a counterattack 69 minutes into the match, but E. Incatasciato took a shot from the left that landed harmlessly in the side of the net. The referee showed RABID's L. Guilbault the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Cheers filled the stadium as L. Rocchia broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 3 - 1 to Savafc. Savafc's E. Incatasciato was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the opposition's box - G. Giacopello managed to volley one of them into the net to make it 4 - 1 after 77 minutes. Given a free kick close to the byline, RABID tried a move that loyal fans may recognise from training. A pass to the side pulled the defence out of position which let N. Negri slip through on goal. He didn't have to break his stride, and slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 4 - 2, 79 minutes into the game. Savafc enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 51 percent of possession.

The most dominating Savafc player was without a doubt B. Guasti. However, G. Giacopello made a disastrous appearance. Most important RABID player was N. Negri. U. Lend was a disappointment, however. The match ends 4 - 2.