Gusanapios 6 - 2 Mandrokos (382962502)

It was an exceptionally sunny day for the crowd of 24499 that came out to La Basura Arena. Mathew Wax was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Gennady Pavlovskiy and Ulf Robertsson. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Gusanapios. They fielded: Abogabir - Alquézar, Pedrogão, Peirolo - Ditlevsen, Krosse, Meyke, Illanes, Vejlgaard - Baloira, Modiri.

Mandrokos tactics involved an interesting 2-5-3 combination. The following players had been chosen: Grillenzoni - Mejías, Lehesalu - Tiltiņš, Manso Tabernero, Pinedo, Schwindt, van Oostenrijk - Tunçeri, Orense, Iserna.

Mandrokos were mostly trying to use their skill at attacking on the flanks. J. Alquézar caused the crowd to go mental with his goal up the middle after 22 minutes. This gave Gusanapios the 1 - 0 lead. After 30 minutes Gusanapios's E. Modiri limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. A speedy charge from the left side of the field increased the lead of Gusanapios to 2 - 0 as P. Illanes finished it off competently, firing in from an acute angle. Cheers filled the stadium as E. Modiri broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 3 - 0 to Gusanapios. Confident in their lead, Gusanapios's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave J. Iserna from Mandrokos a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 39 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Gusanapios's G. Baloira went down after a savage challenge, but could continue playing after some medical attention. Ater 42 minutes E. Orense seized on an opportunistic attack from the right, and scored for Mandrokos making it 3 - 1. Mandrokos had a good opportunity to attack in the middle, but remembered their instructions to focus on wing attacks instead. Mandrokos's right side looked dangerous after 44 minutes, as B. Tunçeri broke through. M. Abogabir continued to stifle them, however, as he made the save look easy. Gusanapios caught their opponents out with a clever counterattack down the right wing 44 minutes into the match. E. Ditlevsen was able to finish off the move - 4 - 1. The teams went for the halftime break at 4 - 1. Mandrokos had most of the ball, with 53 percent of possession.

Mandrokos were determined to attack on the wing and their central attempts were constantly abandoned in favour of the wings. Mandrokos breathed new life into the game with an opportunity to reduce the score after 59 minutes, but the home side's defenders cleared the ball on the line, after a long shot coming in from the left rebounded off the crossbar. After 69 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by G. Baloira might have resulted in another goal for Gusanapios. However, P. Grillenzoni made a spectacular save. The sun seemed to put E. Orense in a great mood, and he showed off his technical skills all match long. With 71 minutes played, Gusanapios put themselves up 5 - 1 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to M. Pedrogão, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home. Players in Mandrokos heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their central attacks to the wings instead. The visitors got one back when J. van Oostenrijk finished off a pass from the left and scored after 72 minutes. 5 - 2 was the score. Gusanapios's J. Alquézar had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 73 minutes having been played. A. Lobo was the replacement. Gusanapios put themselves up 6 - 2 when M. Pedrogão broke through on the right, leaving the entire defence trailing in his wake. Possession in this half belonged to Mandrokos, who controlled the ball 51 percent of the time.

G. Baloira performed admirably for Gusanapios. A. Lobo turned in a dismal performance, however. Mandrokos's top performer was clearly S. Pinedo. P. Grillenzoni on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 6 - 2.