deportivo 0 - 0 rata34 (383121428)

The 16661 spectators at mac arena were in for an afternoon of sunshine. Martin Gunnarsson was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Remo Kemper and Benoit Vernet. deportivo decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. Starters: Gerdwald - Almeida Ribeiro, Murphy, De Facq - Buceti, Drăguţ, Tanko, Marrone, Waldthausen - De Candia, Parashutinskiy.

rata34 had chosen a strategic 2-5-3 formation. The following players took the field: Pantić - Akide, García Talavera - Siegele, Vargas, Borgoš, Leick, Nadal - Isasaga, Zonarelli, Carvalho.

The strategy for deportivo was to use their ability to press. After 16 minutes a very unfortunate collision in the penalty area led to rata34's H. Akide being carried off the pitch and replaced by T. Varela. The rata34 captaincy was handed to J. Borgoš. rata34's H. Siegele got himself booked for a foul. Unfortunately for deportivo, M. De Candia was injured when the game became more physical, and he had to leave the field. V. Sivak replaced him. Some great play up the middle by deportivo led to a chance for C. Marrone to score after 23 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. At this time in the match, deportivo were using their skill at pressing to successfully stifle the game. The teams went for the halftime break at 0 - 0. Possession in this half belonged to deportivo, who controlled the ball 55 percent of the time.

Some things can only be learned through experience, and T. Varela should take his lesson to heart after nearly gifting deportivo a goal with 70 minutes of the match played. P. Nadal was doing a great job on his wing, sending in brilliant passes to his teammates in the middle, but A. Isasaga seemed unable to profit from this excellent service. deportivo had a chance to take the lead after M. Drăguţ's dazzling drive up the left, but the opportunity fizzled out as his shot went just over the bar after 79 minutes. rata34 had most of the ball, with 51 percent of possession.

deportivo's best player was M. Drăguţ. On the other hand, V. Sivak's play was disheartening. P. Carvalho performed admirably for rata34. P. Pantić was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 0.