Düsseldorf 5 - 1 B&C (384384022)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and Rhein- Arena saw a crowd turnout of 21835. Taha Jahaf was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Leonid Stambursky and Kevin Jackson. Düsseldorf tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Starters: Pinelli - Witthohn, Peschkel, Marando - Boschmann, Mahuzier, Puzakov, Brugman, Larsson - Ikonomeas, Keshet.

B&C decided to use a 4-5-1 set up. Lineup: Thaicharoen - Kolomainen, Shahbazi, Abril, Karadeniz - Zelenák, Seigfried, Condruz, Verellen, Lucas - van der Ark.

B&C saw most attack opportunities on the wings. Many thought R. Witthohn ought to have been awarded a penalty 2 minutes into the game, as he went down trying to dribble around S. Thaicharoen after a determined run through the middle. B&C's G. Seigfried gave the visitors a 0 - 1 lead after 3 minutes with a superb strike from the right. A foul 21 minutes into the game resulted in a free kick for Düsseldorf. E. Brugman took advantage as he curled the equalising goal into the top corner, just out of the reach of the keeper. 1 - 1. After 22 minutes, the home side was awarded a penalty. The visitors protested wildly but the referee was adamant. E. Brugman easily put the ball away to give the lead to Düsseldorf. 2 - 1 B&C had a good opportunity to attack in the middle, but remembered their instructions to focus on wing attacks instead. N. Keshet increased the lead for Düsseldorf to 3 - 1, 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! Halftime score was 3 - 1. Düsseldorf enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 54 percent of possession.

Düsseldorf will have to do without F. Mahuzier for a time, due to a bad foot injury at the 53 minute mark. He was substituted by T. Trần. With 60 minutes played, Düsseldorf put themselves up 4 - 1 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to N. Ikonomeas, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Düsseldorf lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. B&C's F. Abril left the field after 69 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was R. Sambri. After 73 minutes, S. Puzakov put Düsseldorf ahead 5 - 1 when he rose to head in a cross from the right wing. Düsseldorf's E. Brugman had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 78 minutes having been played. Ö. Bengi was the replacement. Possession in this half belonged to B&C, who controlled the ball 52 percent of the time.

Most important Düsseldorf player was N. Ikonomeas. Ö. Bengi on the other hand, had a terrible day. B&C's best player was R. Verellen. On the other hand, R. Sambri's play was disheartening. The match ends 5 - 1.