Elektro 0 - 2 Empire (382776150)

It had rained all day, but 2931 hardy fans still made it out to Magneto. Rafi Haviv was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Florian Vreydal and Francesc Garcia. All of Maribor was shut down for the day, as fans of both clubs came to the derby. Elektro started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Pongrac - Košmerl, Katanec, Jambrošič - Guštinčič, Štorovnik, Meindl, Krhin, Zajc - Zanella, Rugelj.

Empire decided to use a 4-3-3 set up. They fielded: Couchepin - Lambergar, Možina, Alcalá, Smonker - Sernc, Romppanen, Kussel - Quanz, David, Dobromer.

Empire saw most attack opportunities on the wings. 2 minutes into the game, Elektro seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion and they fell to a inadequate level of organisation. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave B. Sernc from Empire a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 3 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! A loud groan was heard from the fans of Elektro, as A. Zanella left the pitch in too much pain to finish the match. D. Volfand took his place on the field. L. Romppanen was in the clear after breaking the offside trap following a Empire counterattack from the left after 6 minutes. His neat finish made the score 0 - 1. U. Zajc was struggling to make the ball dance with his usual trickery and panache, and the opposing players had little trouble shutting him down in these muddy conditions. Some fine passing in the middle of the pitch, carving open the away defence, should have led to a goal for Elektro, but R. Rugelj's shot went over the bar. Halftime score was 0 - 1. Elektro had most of the ball, with 55 percent of possession.

During the break, Elektro's coach went through the team's tactics yet again, getting them up to solid organisation. Elektro were awarded a penalty 56 minutes into the game, but M. Štorovnik didn't make a good job of it and W. Couchepin managed to save. 57 minutes in, Elektro's M. Štorovnik received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Unfortunately for Empire, V. Kussel was injured when the game became more physical, and he had to leave the field. I. Janža replaced him. Elektro's M. Katanec made a successful breakthrough on the left after 60 minutes and should have levelled the score, but instead he clipped it over the bar. The home keeper was stunned 60 minutes into the match when he misjudged the free kick by M. Dobromer and dived in the wrong direction. The visitors increased the lead to 0 - 2. Elektro's Ž. Guštinčič got himself booked for a foul. T. Jambrošič did everything he could to get one back for his Elektro, but keeper W. Couchepin denied him with a spectacular block. 76 minutes into the game, Elektro seemed a little tentative in their play as their organization fell to inadequate. Possession in this half belonged to Empire, who controlled the ball 53 percent of the time.

The most dominating Elektro player was without a doubt R. Rugelj. However, J. Pongrac made a disastrous appearance. B. Sernc performed admirably for Empire. M. Smonker turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 0 - 2.