MANCHESTER 1 - 1 Garrapates (383270513)

Due to an all-day shower, 4186 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at MANCHESTER UNITED 13 Arena. Tommy Henriksson was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Francesco Laterza and Mauno Lehtinen. A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for MANCHESTER. They fielded: Lezaun - Larrea, Lozano Jiménez, 子建 (Zijian), Santorromán - Genebriera, Velasco Nieto, Ibarra, Gutiérrez - Rossich, Engómez.

Garrapates tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. The following players took the field: Roca - Ferrando, Troyes, Gordoncillo, Iosif - Mingo, Azula, Germán, Izal - Sáenz, Dupuy.

The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave J. Gutiérrez from MANCHESTER a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 11 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Garrapates had several good opportunities to take the lead, especially 18 minutes in when A. Iosif came up alone against I. Lezaun who managed a block. L. Germán came close to putting the visiting team one up 19 minutes into the match, following a solo raid down the middle, but I. Lezaun managed to tip the ball to a corner. 薛. 子建 (Zijian) received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly 22 minutes into the match, probably out of lack of experience, and almost let an opponent score. 24 minutes into the game, A. Iosif was a hair's breadth away from giving Garrapates the lead with a shot from over on the left. A prompt block by I. Lezaun saved the home team that time. 25 minutes into the game, Á. Troyes almost gave the visitors the lead, as he clipped a delicate lob over the keeper, but the ball glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. The teams went for the halftime break at 0 - 0. Garrapates enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 59 percent of possession.

Thighs bulging, J. Lozano Jiménez charged past the weaker players, seemingly oblivious to the rain. The counterattacks of MANCHESTER were deadly and 76 minutes into the game, D. Engómez received a nice pass from the right flank, making it 1 - 0. M. Ussía was called on to replace Garrapates's L. Germán after 83 minutes following a nasty collision. After 84 minutes, the visitors tied it up at 1 - 1 when a fantastic pass from the left was finished off by M. Ussía. A free kick aimed at the keeper's far post almost gave Garrapates the lead 88 minutes in, but the ball just wasn't able to squirm its way through the defensive wall. Garrapates claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 68 percent.

Most important MANCHESTER player was J. Gutiérrez. On the other hand, M. Ibarra's play was disheartening. Garrapates's top performer was clearly J. Izal. However, J. Roca made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 1.