santamarteam 2 - 1 SALELLES (382886339)

44263 punters turned up at SantamartArena, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Kim Grooten was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Antonio Terán and Pantaleo Di Piero. santamarteam started off with a 5-2-3 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Kasum - Gabarrós, Goretti, Ruiz, Rivas, Muro - Punkka, Cegastia - Herreros, Nicolás, Gavaldà.

SALELLES had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Treiers - Aláez, Brugnera, Romberg - Müllner, Calderer, Barceló, Masoliver, Mehra - Ugarte, Di Noto.

Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for santamarteam. The referee showed SALELLES's R. Mehra the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. W. Romberg had a good try after 35 minutes, coming in on a fine move from the left, but the ball went wide. With the clock showing 36 minutes played, a great pass from the defensive line of santamarteam resulted in a counterattack that was smoothly brought under control by A. Ruiz in the centre of the opposition's penalty area, but his finish went high. After 39 minutes, santamarteam's A. Ruiz fell awkwardly, but was determined to stay in the match. That's the spirit! 0 - 0 was the score after the first half. SALELLES claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 87 percent.

SALELLES had several good opportunities to take the lead, especially 48 minutes in when R. Mehra came up alone against A. Kasum who managed a block. santamarteam caught their opponents out with a clever counterattack down the right wing 66 minutes into the match. D. Nicolás was able to finish off the move - 1 - 0. santamarteam showed their counterattack skill 75 minutes into the match by breaking through the middle, with J. Gavaldà scoring uncontested for 2 - 0. A. Kasum wanted to play on, but the santamarteam coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 76 minutes into the game by A. Valdivia. The players of santamarteam now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. There was concern in the stands when, at the 77 minute mark, santamarteam's B. Cegastia hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. After 80 minutes, SALELLES raised their score by one when R. Mehra's dangerous low cross was cleverly tucked in at the near post by V. Di Noto. 2 - 1. SALELLES enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 88 percent of possession.

The most dominating santamarteam player was without a doubt J. Gavaldà. C. Muro was a disappointment, however. Most important SALELLES player was V. Di Noto. W. Müllner turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 2 - 1.