alkatras 5 - 4 levski (382580622)

It was an exceptionally sunny day for the crowd of 32600 that came out to alkatras Arena. Francisco Almeida was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Alfonso Vizoso and Adrián Horniš. alkatras started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Vúlchov - Rauha, Saltiris, Lichtenau - Bukarev, Grier, Ovcharov, Kyosev, Rijckmans - Kotev, Damov.

levski decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. Starters: Martí - Jaunzems, Keskin, Camozzini - Kuroś, Seguin, Ingelbeck, Casais, Eames - Roland Olsen, Cioffarelli.

levski's A. Roland Olsen gave the visitors a 0 - 1 lead after 2 minutes with a superb strike from the right. After 4 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for A. Roland Olsen who increased levski's lead to 0 - 2. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave P. Ingelbeck from levski a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 17 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! C. Grier's knee will be throbbing for days, but thankfully for alkatras, he bravely continued in the match. Almost all the way down to the corner flag, alkatras's G. Bukarev somehow managed to get a perfect pass into the middle, impossible to miss for M. Damov, who struck for 1 - 2. With the crowd on their feet chanting wildly, some great moves down the right hand side after 32 minutes gave alkatras a wonderful opportunity to level the score, and P. Saltiris stepped up to the challenge. 2 - 2 35 minutes into the game, I. Kuroś almost gave the visitors the lead, as he clipped a delicate lob over the keeper, but the ball glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. M. Damov caused the crowd to go mental with his goal up the middle after 36 minutes. This gave alkatras the 3 - 2 lead. Halftime score was 3 - 2. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by alkatras, with 53 percent of the ball.

As the game started to slip away for levski, the manager decided to change the tactical approach. alkatras's J. Rauha increased the lead to 4 - 2, after he saw his shot go between the legs of the advancing goalkeeper following some good play down the right wing after 59 minutes. The visitors replied 79 minutes into the game, reducing the home side's lead to 4 - 3, as R. Jaunzems dashed up the middle, easily lobbing the ball over the home team's keeper. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. M. Damov squirmed through their central defence after 87 minutes, increasing the lead to 5 - 3. At that, M. Damov was noted down for a hat trick! T. Kotev enjoyed the sunshine and demonstrated his stunning technique over and over again. levski were desperate to get a goal back and pushed forward through the middle 89 minutes into the game. After a scramble in the box, the ball dropped to R. Jaunzems, who smashed it home to make the score 5 - 4. This part of the game was a standoff between the teams in terms of possession.

alkatras's best player was T. Kotev. On the other hand, D. Vúlchov's play was disheartening. A. Roland Olsen performed admirably for levski. D. Martí was a disappointment, however. The match ends 5 - 4.