Manchester 0 - 4 ortonovese (382270731)

Clouds darkened the skies at Manchester City stadium as 4008 spectators turned up for the match. Pompeo Demetri was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Antti Pajuranta and Rocco Thiels. A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Manchester. The following players had been chosen: Manica - Mazzurana, Balestri, Tusha, Falbo - Circelli, Albericci, Vianello, Testoni - Vasi, Giannerini.

ortonovese decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. The following players took the field: Scuderi - Menghini, Antonucci, Schicchi, Belardo - Brucato, Argomenni, Costaggiu, Aloigi - Anzalone, Vrencev.

M. Belardo received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly 2 minutes into the match, probably out of lack of experience, and almost let an opponent score. ortonovese's F. Brucato could have put the guests one up after 3 minutes after chasing a through ball from the right, but N. Manica was as fast as a snake, grabbing the ball from under his nose. Manchester were very close to putting themselves one up after 4 minutes as G. Testoni got through on the left, but failing in concentration, he shot the ball wide. 18 minutes into the match, ortonovese nearly took the lead, as L. Aloigi broke through on the right. N. Manica made the save, however. It might be a while before the fans see ortonovese's U. Costaggiu again, after he had to leave the field in great distress at the 34 minute mark. He was replaced by A. Fioravanti. Down the middle came F. Brucato, making a fantastic play that nearly had ortonovese take the lead after 34 minutes, but N. Manica preserved the tie. The guests almost went up by a goal after 38 minutes when A. Vrencev came through and shot from the right. The ball bounced harmlessly off the post, though. The terraces were silenced after 39 minutes when ortonovese's U. Antonucci put the guests ahead 0 - 1, following an attack on the right. The teams went for the halftime break at 0 - 1. Possession in this half belonged to ortonovese, who controlled the ball 60 percent of the time.

With 50 minutes played, S. Falbo of Manchester fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. Manchester's M. Circelli almost tied things up with 54 minutes played after breaking through on the right, but his shot deflected off the post. After 57 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave A. Vrencev a chance to increase the lead for ortonovese, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 0 - 2. A. Menghini of ortonovese took advantage of a mistake on the home side's right after 58 minutes which increased the away team's lead to 0 - 3. The players of ortonovese now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. Manchester's F. Giannerini got himself booked for a foul. ortonovese's N. Argomenni went down after a savage challenge, but could continue playing after some medical attention. The visitors' A. Vrencev took advantage of a misunderstanding between the home side's goalie and centre backs 81 minutes into the match. 0 - 4 for ortonovese. ortonovese claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 63 percent.

R. Mazzurana performed admirably for Manchester. However, F. Giannerini made a disastrous appearance. Most important ortonovese player was D. Anzalone. On the other hand, A. Scuderi's play was disheartening. The match ends 0 - 4.