Whosu 3 - 0 Thunders (382814931)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 38773 had shown up at Whosu Arena for the match. Francisco Llamllam was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Agostino Bonasio and Yüce Aykul. Whosu tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Lacmanović - Lenuzzi, Öhrling, Pantner - Walsh, Brzęk, Gózon, Holmberg, Malmner - Ivuša, Jannaoui.

Thunders decided to use a 3-4-3 set up. The following players had been chosen: Belardo - Ese, Rysiński, Lennon - Alahäivälä, Kuiper, Fazilet, Oreč - Zekan, Maneslavić, Sallet.

Thunders mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle. The bicycle kick from Š. Zekan would have been the Goal of the Year for Thunders, had it not hit the post. The home side put themselves ahead 1 - 0 after 30 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from A. Jannaoui, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing. T. Lennon of Thunders was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. 1 - 0 was the score after the first half. Whosu had most of the ball, with 67 percent of possession.

A. Jannaoui increased Whosu's lead to 2 - 0 with a penalty spot cannonball. Confident in their lead, Whosu's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. With 60 minutes played, Whosu put themselves up 3 - 0 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to A. Jannaoui, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home. This third goal completed a hattrick for A. Jannaoui. With 63 minutes played, P. Gózon of Whosu fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. What was A. Kuiper thinking? That's what everyone wondered when, for no apparent reason, he shot a cross pass over his own penalty area, giving D. Ivuša an extra chance, but unfortunately for Whosu, he didn't get the shot right. P. Gózon could have put Whosu up one more, but he fired into the side netting after breaking free on the left after 71 minutes. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave D. Ivuša from Whosu a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 72 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Whosu claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 68 percent.

Whosu's top performer was clearly M. Holmberg. On the other hand, D. Walsh's play was disheartening. The most dominating Thunders player was without a doubt T. Sallet. Z. Oreč was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 0.