Clear skies welcomed the 9327 spectators who had made their way to
El infierno orlandino!.
Andrea Caracciolo was the appointed referee with assistance provided by
Hughes Luck and
Ádám Mikó.
Pessas decided to use a 4-4-2 set up.
The following players had been chosen: Liński - Drężek, Pačnik, Grozdnik, Laperchia - Rivas, Osorio Acevedo, Haxaire, Mejías - Danke, Eilertsen.
Rubios tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination.
The following players took the field: Salvà - Olmos, Puig Duran, Errondo, Sanz - Capelo, Okhouri, Mingo, Mansanet - Phillips, Idoiaga.
Pessas saw most attack opportunities on the wings.
1 minutes into the game, Pessas wanted to bring some new energy to their game.
W. Drężek gave
Y. Kalaitzis a quick hug as he left the field.
It was obvious that Pessas had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle.
After 17 minutes,
R. Osorio Acevedo came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 1 - 0, giving Pessas the lead.
25 minutes in, Rubios's
A. Olmos received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first.
With 30 minutes played, Pessas put themselves up 2 - 0 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to
Y. Kalaitzis, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home.
Things were deteriorating for the away team as Pessas scored another to make it 3 - 0 after a left side attack resulted in a goal for
J. Mejías after 34 minutes.
The visitors replied 35 minutes into the game, reducing the home side's lead to 3 - 1, as
M. Errondo dashed up the middle, easily lobbing the ball over the home team's keeper.
Rubios's
R. Salvà had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 37 minutes having been played.
P. Villalpando was the replacement.
It was 3 - 1 at the break.
Pessas claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 57 percent.
Content with how the game was proceeding, the Pessas coach let
B. Lukoviczki replace
G. Danke after 56 minutes.
F. Grozdnik wanted to play on, but the Pessas coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 57 minutes into the game by
L. Rajčević.
Rubios's opponents know to be wary of
P. Capelo's speed, but it made little difference as he flew past the defence 58 minutes into the game. Only the keeper could stop him - and he did with a perfectly timed dive!
Pessas had no available replacements when
R. Osorio Acevedo had to leave the game after 65 minutes because of a pulled tendon, leaving the team a man short.
Some things can only be learned through experience, and
Y. Kalaitzis should take his lesson to heart after nearly gifting Rubios a goal with 71 minutes of the match played.
The visitors got a chance to pulling one back after 74 minutes, due to a defensive blunder leaving
L. Idoiaga completely unmarked. His strike was pathetic though, easy prey for the home side's keeper.
S. Eilertsen stunned the crowd with a brilliant counterattack from the left, giving Pessas the goal to make it 4 - 1.
Rubios breathed new life into the game with an opportunity to reduce the score after 77 minutes, but the home side's defenders cleared the ball on the line, after a long shot coming in from the left rebounded off the crossbar.
C. Haxaire knocked one home from a counterattack down the right wing, making the score 5 - 1 after 78 minutes.
Confident in their lead, Pessas's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it.
After 81 minutes, Rubios's
P. Mansanet fell awkwardly, but was determined to stay in the match. That's the spirit!
Almost all the way down to the corner flag, Pessas's
J. Mejías somehow managed to get a perfect pass into the middle, impossible to miss for
B. Lukoviczki, who struck for 6 - 1.
Pessas increased the lead as
J. Rivas struck to make the score 7 - 1 after an attack from the left left him unmarked in front of the keeper.
84 minutes in,
A. Olmos made an incredible run up the middle and nearly reduced the home side's lead, but
P. Liński refused to let the ball slip by him.
Y. Kalaitzis of Pessas received a yellow card after 85 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour.
Possession in this half belonged to Rubios, who controlled the ball 51 percent of the time.
J. Mejías performed admirably for Pessas.
Y. Kalaitzis was a disappointment, however.
Most important Rubios player was
L. Idoiaga.
A. Olmos on the other hand, had a terrible day.
The match ends 7 - 1.