Malvern 1 - 1 betulo (382957745)

Clear skies welcomed the 32762 spectators who had made their way to Mastersizer 2000. Titus Pascu was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Johan Nilsson and Tom Götz. A 3-4-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Malvern. The following players had been chosen: Monserrat - La Riba Llera, Egaña, Burón - Couso, Tolerano, Muñoz, Fuentes - Bassols, Cardena, Babiano.

betulo had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. Starters: Rares - Abai, van Schagen, Pozuelo, Strider - Väre, Afeltowicz, Koşak, Brendle, De Rocker - Olsen.

betulo clearly had decided to counter-attack when they could. Malvern had a chance to take the lead after M. Muñoz's dazzling drive up the left, but the opportunity fizzled out as his shot went just over the bar after 17 minutes. betulo showed their counterattack skill 18 minutes into the match by breaking through the middle, with H. Väre scoring uncontested for 0 - 1. After 31 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as betulo found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to inadequate. 41 minutes in, betulo appeared unsure on how to play and their organisation was only inadequate. betulo's T. Brendle was shown a yellow card after 43 minutes for slicing down an opponent. A loud groan was heard from the fans of Malvern, as T. Bassols left the pitch in too much pain to finish the match. B. Escarit took his place on the field. betulo's J. De Rocker left the field after 44 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was M. Galdino. 0 - 1 was the halftime score. Possession in this half belonged to Malvern, who controlled the ball 65 percent of the time.

The coach gave his players an extra tactical briefing during the break, and after that betulo had solid organisation. The betulo players could smell victory in the air. L. Olsen wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for D. Kuboyama after 52 minutes. 64 minutes into the game, betulo seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion and they fell to a passable level of organisation. Due to some great work on the right wing Malvern's L. Fuentes was able to even the score after 75 minutes to make the score 1 - 1. betulo were able to draw a foul with their counterattacks, but the shot from M. Koşak went into the arms of the keeper. L. Fuentes of Malvern received a yellow card after 80 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. 82 minutes into the game, betulo seemed a little tentative in their play as their organization fell to passable. Malvern's R. Babiano had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 85 minutes having been played. M. Borneiro was the replacement. Malvern had most of the ball, with 62 percent of possession.

Malvern's top performer was clearly R. Couso. However, A. Monserrat made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating betulo player was without a doubt H. Väre. P. Strider was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 1.