United 1 - 1 Pallon (382206180)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 6097 at Olimpo today. Mário de Oliveira was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Baltazar Dydymski and Gabriël van Walsem. United started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Thulesen - Adler, Emmanuele, Verplanken - Bruno, Perdzyński, Lenferink, Puusepp, Melo Costa - Cerbara, Falconeri.

A 5-3-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Pallon. Starters: Zonta - Höken, Heuer, Medici, Koene, Galejs-Dravnieks - Cocilovo, Dach, Sundet - Donvito, Tulonen.

The wings were the focus of most of United's attacks today. Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for Pallon. There was concern in the stands when, at the 14 minute mark, Pallon's P. Tulonen hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. With 25 minutes gone, a long pass from the defence of Pallon resulted in a counterattack that set D. Dach free through the middle, but the keeper made a spectacular diving save. Pallon's R. Galejs-Dravnieks was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 31 minutes. United could have put themselves ahead after 32 minutes but A. Falconeri missed a volley shot on a ball coming in from the right. 33 minutes into the game Pallon managed a counterattack, but S. Donvito took a soft shot from the left flank that was easy prey for the alert keeper. 35 minutes into the game, S. Donvito had a great chance to put his team ahead, but his kick from the left went wide. Good work by the Pallon defensive line after 37 minutes produced a good counterattack chance, which cut elegantly down the middle of the pitch and found D. Koene alone in front of the goal, but his shot whistled just wide. D. Koene of Pallon was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. Halftime score was 0 - 0. United had most of the ball, with 73 percent of possession.

46 minutes into the game, Pallon wanted to bring some new energy to their game. P. Cocilovo gave G. Bertaccini a quick hug as he left the field. United had a good opportunity to attack in the middle, but remembered their instructions to focus on wing attacks instead. Pallon's P. Tulonen managed to lose the defenders as he advanced down the right wing and scored, putting the visitors ahead after 48 minutes. 0 - 1. D. Dach wanted to play on, but the Pallon coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 60 minutes into the game by D. Ñañez. With 76 minutes played, United's E. Melo Costa found an opening in the visitors' left side defence, but his shot was handled easily by the keeper. No matter how hard he tried, D. Verplanken just couldn't get his shot past the visitors' right side defence after 80 minutes. Pallon's defence sent a ball soaring up the middle on a beautiful counterattack with 81 minutes gone, but D. Koene's finish was met by the reaching hands of the keeper. Players in United heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their central attacks to the wings instead. 82 minutes into the match, United's D. Verplanken maneuvered his way around the opposition on the left flank, delighting the crowd with his twists and turns. The effort paid off as the ball found the back of the net, evening the score at 1 - 1. United claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 74 percent.

United's best player was A. Falconeri. On the other hand, E. Melo Costa's play was disheartening. Pallon's top performer was clearly S. Donvito. D. Koene turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 1 - 1.