F.C. 2 - 1 ALEHOP, (383019869)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 18016 at Cartagonova today. Erwin Greber was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Luís Araújo and Marco Palombarini. F.C. started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Duek - Álvarez Gundín, Barca, Sidenbrant - 福炳 (Fubing), Ahmad, Rognlien, Broer, Pomarè - Geraltes, Cardús.

ALEHOP, tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Perney - Sello, Tierney, Rojas Mendoza - Fontbern, Nardinocchi, El-Mubarak, Malherbe, Soto Ruiz - Rivas, Kempeners.

ALEHOP, used their ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the pitch, rather than on the wings. D. Barca of F.C. was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. ALEHOP, players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. F.C.'s J. Álvarez Gundín tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but couldn't get past the visitors' defenders. 0 - 0 was the halftime score. ALEHOP, enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 52 percent of possession.

After 46 minutes, the ALEHOP, coach wanted to see a new face on the pitch, waving É. Perney off the field. M. Skwarek took his place. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave N. Cardús from F.C. a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 52 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! D. Tierney's knee will be throbbing for days, but thankfully for ALEHOP,, he bravely continued in the match. They were singing the praises of A. Geraltes 59 minutes into the match after his speculative chip from the middle of the penalty box found its way over the visitors' keeper to make the score 1 - 0 to F.C.. After 63 minutes ALEHOP,'s S. Malherbe had to be carried off on a stretcher in agony. P. Leroux came in to replace him. Cheers filled the stadium as N. Cardús broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 2 - 0 to F.C.. F.C.'s S. Ahmad was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 68 minutes. 72 minutes in, Y. El-Mubarak made an incredible run up the middle and nearly reduced the home side's lead, but H. Duek refused to let the ball slip by him. ALEHOP, were determined to attack in the middle, even their wing attacks ended up centrally. A bit later, ALEHOP,'s P. Rivas easily reduced the lead to 2 - 1 after a misunderstanding in the home side's central defence. Possession in this half belonged to F.C., who controlled the ball 52 percent of the time.

A. Geraltes performed admirably for F.C.. M. Sidenbrant was a disappointment, however. The most dominating ALEHOP, player was without a doubt L. Nardinocchi. On the other hand, P. Leroux's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 1.