O.Valencia 5 - 2 SALAMANCA (383243191)

It was an exceptionally sunny day for the crowd of 10105 that came out to Los Aromos. Gerrie Backers was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Cristinel Stoica and Jordi Wigchert. O.Valencia started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. Lineup: Mosebo - Nievas, Sorbello, Prat, Abreu - Banchini, Varoquier, Galliners, Nando - Chaguazoso, Obieta.

SALAMANCA had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. The following players took the field: Olsen - Suárez, Dragotta, Kutáč, Lebeckis - Güngördü, Iványi, Komel, Gmeiner - Storsveen, Susmaz.

O.Valencia were relying on their ability to counter-attack. With 31 minutes played, the home side managed to get a 1 - 0 lead as M. Varoquier flipped the ball in after a cross from the right. Several players seemed a little dazed by the warm weather, and were repeatedly tricked by the clever and agile J. Galliners. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in O.Valencia's M. Varoquier increasing the lead to 2 - 0. O.Valencia's J. Prat lived up to his reputation for finding unexpected ways to get the ball in the net when he sent a nifty little pass over to L. Obieta who finished for 3 - 0 with 36 minutes of the match played. The players of O.Valencia now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. After 41 minutes, SALAMANCA were awarded a free kick. Rather than shooting straight at goal, the taker went for an indirect variant which seemed to take his team mates a bit by surprise. T. Storsveen did attempt a finish, but from an awkward position, sending the ball into the away fans. O.Valencia solidified their lead at the 43 minute mark, as O. Nievas dribbled the ball through the opposing central defence and scored to make it 4 - 0. Halftime score was 4 - 0. O.Valencia enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 56 percent of possession.

SALAMANCA reduced the lead after 47 minutes to 4 - 1 as T. Storsveen easily chipped the ball past the home side's keeper after a dazzling play from the right. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, G. Sorbello got himself booked. The manager of O.Valencia was not happy. L. Obieta left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 74 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. J. Allueva was the replacement. L. Banchini wasn't much help defensively. His energy-consuming forward runs proved quite costly in the oppressive heat. With 75 minutes played, O.Valencia's J. Allueva almost extended the lead, but his shot from the left glanced off the top of the bar to fall behind the net. SALAMANCA showed their counterattack skill 76 minutes into the match by breaking through the middle, with U. Susmaz scoring uncontested for 4 - 2. R. Chaguazoso increased the lead for O.Valencia to 5 - 2, getting a head onto a hooked ball from the right. The ball looked to have taken a deflection on the way in, but he's claiming it! Possession in this half belonged to O.Valencia, who controlled the ball 54 percent of the time.

The most dominating O.Valencia player was without a doubt J. Galliners. On the other hand, L. Banchini's play was disheartening. SALAMANCA's top performer was clearly T. Storsveen. J. Olsen turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 5 - 2.