Esplugues 0 - 1 estrellas (382962517)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 17282 at Camp Municipal d'Esplugues today. Giorgio Kooy was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jung-Sip Oh and Torben Eckhart. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Esplugues. Starters: Pikoń - Capuchines, Marin Cano, Panciu - Utiel, Aedo, Pulido, Agra, Kortesa - Otte, Velicu.

estrellas tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Hydalgo - Tezcan, Binneveld, Gattinger - Taravillo, Agosta, Fryc, Izco, Uhlir - Markov, Rothenaichner.

Down the middle came S. Izco, making a fantastic play that nearly had estrellas take the lead after 20 minutes, but G. Pikoń preserved the tie. Esplugues made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in on the right hand side left J. Utiel completely alone with keeper N. Hydalgo, who made a spectacular block. The referee showed Esplugues's K. Otte the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Some great play up the middle by Esplugues led to a chance for K. Otte to score after 38 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. 0 - 0 was the halftime score. Esplugues had most of the ball, with 51 percent of possession.

The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave M. Aedo from Esplugues a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 52 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Esplugues had a good opportunity to take the lead as K. Otte came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into the arms of N. Hydalgo. M. Aedo knew he was in trouble after hacking down an opponent. Despite his pleading with the referee, the Esplugues player was shown a second yellow card and dismissed from the game. A loud groan was heard from the fans of estrellas, as S. Izco left the pitch in too much pain to finish the match. J. Hérault took his place on the field. 65 minutes into the match, estrellas nearly took the lead, as R. Fryc broke through on the right. G. Pikoń made the save, however. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of estrellas's J. Hérault after 71 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 0 - 1 lead. Esplugues's Á. Capuchines was shown a yellow card after 78 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Possession in this half belonged to estrellas, who controlled the ball 53 percent of the time.

Most important Esplugues player was R. Agra. However, T. Panciu made a disastrous appearance. S. Agosta performed admirably for estrellas. N. Hydalgo turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 0 - 1.