Kirchwehren 1 - 3 Fortuna (384356638)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and Blind Guardian Arena saw a crowd turnout of 33466. Marcelo Lobo was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Pierre Guillon and Jan-Frederik Meye. Kirchwehren tactics involved an interesting 5-3-2 combination. Starters: Ghizzoni - Lossa, van den Oosterkamp, Järvelin, Tainijoki, Paumier - Anthofer, Guther, Entholzner - Dragschitz, Fürstenberg.

A 4-5-1 alignment was the formation of choice for Fortuna. Lineup: Português - Kleinert, Bruchmühlen, Seekamp, Eusse - Albert, Hinterseher, Mauthner, Axinte, Vasilev - Booker.

For their match strategy, Kirchwehren had decided to use their ability to counter-attack whenever possible. The guests almost went up by a goal after 22 minutes when W. Hinterseher came through and shot from the right. The ball bounced harmlessly off the post, though. After 23 minutes, the defensive line of Kirchwehren created a counterattack through the middle that gave N. Fürstenberg a good look at the goal, but his shot glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. Always quick on his feet, Fortuna's E. Albert sped down the field after 25 minutes, but his pass to E. Booker was just a bit too far ahead for him to get a good shot off. With 34 minutes gone, a long pass from the defence of Kirchwehren resulted in a counterattack that set N. Fürstenberg free through the middle, but the keeper made a spectacular diving save. It was 0 - 0 at the break. Fortuna enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 69 percent of possession.

After 52 minutes, M. Vasilev sent the corner kick right to A. Eusse who headed it sharply past the keeper. 0 - 1! The Fortuna players could smell victory in the air. N. Axinte wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for M. Putick after 60 minutes. The coach of Fortuna was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 75 minutes, D. Paladin came on for I. Seekamp. With 75 minutes played, Kirchwehren's G. van den Oosterkamp found an opening in the visitors' left side defence, but his shot was handled easily by the keeper. Given a free kick close to the byline, Fortuna tried a move that loyal fans may recognise from training. A pass to the side pulled the defence out of position which let E. Albert slip through on goal. He didn't have to break his stride, and slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 0 - 2, 83 minutes into the game. Fortuna's N. Mauthner got himself booked for a foul. An amazing free kick flew past the home keeper 86 minutes into the match, putting Fortuna ahead 0 - 3. M. Vasilev was the scorer. By now, the players in Fortuna felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. Kirchwehren's J. Entholzner cut towards the middle after 88 minutes, receiving a brilliant pass and slicing through the visiting team's central defence, reducing the lead to 1 - 3. Possession in this half belonged to Fortuna, who controlled the ball 68 percent of the time.

Kirchwehren's top performer was clearly J. Dragschitz. G. van den Oosterkamp on the other hand, had a terrible day. Fortuna's best player was N. Mauthner. On the other hand, D. Paladin's play was disheartening. The match ends 1 - 3.