Gorica 1 - 4 mutni (382736565)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and Hit Gorica Arena saw a crowd turnout of 43326. Laurens-Jan Doverman was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Kevin Summerfield and Albano Brito. A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Gorica. Starters: Frutos - Olego, Konopka, Albericci, De Croce - Podkowski, Cerqueira, Benfenati, Brugger - Doval, Buck.

mutni decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. The following players had been chosen: Houni - Weener, Mundula, Salge - Mastantuoni, Moço, Bohnstedt, von Buddenbrock, MacMorrin - Buchenland, Loureiro.

Gorica clearly preferred using their ability to attack in the middle. It was an obvious ambition of mutni to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. Gorica got a penalty shot 13 minutes into the game, but O. De Croce scuffed the shot slightly and J. Houni was able to block. Some quick footwork on the left side of the field 20 minutes into the match left mutni's T. Buchenland completely free to score. 0 - 1 for the visitors. With 34 minutes played, mutni put themselves up 0 - 2 after an attack from the right, caused by a defensive blunder. The scorer was S. Moço. Confident in their lead, mutni's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. mutni's K. Weener refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 35 minutes. J. von Buddenbrock came close to extending the visitors' lead when he found himself completely unmarked in front of the goal after a pass through the middle. He tried to lift the ball over J. Frutos but overcooked it and hit the bar instead. mutni's K. Weener was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 41 minutes. The teams went for the halftime break at 0 - 2. Possession in this half belonged to Gorica, who controlled the ball 60 percent of the time.

The mutni players could smell victory in the air. S. Bohnstedt wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for F. Huayhua after 46 minutes. After 46 minutes, Gorica used a short break in the game to take new instructions from their coach. With 47 minutes played, the Gorica coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around. C. Kocatürk came on, H. Olego had to leave the fray. G. Salge left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 55 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. S. Šteharnik was the replacement. As the captain was no longer on the pitch, D. MacMorrin took over the role of being the mutni captain. mutni increased their lead after 55 minutes when J. von Buddenbrock broke through on the right, upping the score to 0 - 3, much to the home crowd's dismay. mutni's J. von Buddenbrock got himself booked for a foul. The home crowd were delighted when Q. Doval scored with a header after an attack from the right, making the score 1 - 3. But did he use his hand? That'll be one for the pundits to talk about after the game, that's for sure! After 77 minutes of game time, D. MacMorrin had an excellent opportunity to add to the visitors' lead, clipping a volley hooked in from the right, but J. Frutos was in the right place and tipped the ball over for a corner. It was obvious that mutni had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. With 79 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed S. Šteharnik of mutni to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 1 - 4. 82 minutes in, Gorica's P. Podkowski received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. J. Houni was the unlucky victim and couldn't continue the game, so mutni's L. Alcântara had to come off the bench. Gorica players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. After 85 minutes Gorica's J. Frutos limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. Gorica had most of the ball, with 58 percent of possession.

Most important Gorica player was Q. Doval. P. Podkowski turned in a dismal performance, however. mutni's top performer was clearly S. Moço. L. Alcântara on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 4.