Habenichts 2 - 1 niederbüren (384921436)

Clear skies welcomed the 49923 spectators who had made their way to SV Habenichts Arena. Ben Lee was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Burt Hasloh and Quasim Ibn-Ashraf. Habenichts had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Libano - á Tjørnunesi, Amsler, van Remmen - Callejas, Bocharov, Kamanin, Dubbeling, Iser - Ruehle, Manfredini.

niederbüren started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Duelund - Daumal, van Uffelen, Olinga - Winick, Barendregt, Drange, Elşənzadə, Svensson - Oriol, Burli.

Habenichts seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. G. Winick had a good opportunity to give niederbüren the lead as he charged down the right and struck the ball towards the top corner, but the home team's goalkeeper made the save. There was concern in the stands when, at the 13 minute mark, Habenichts's G. van Remmen hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. Habenichts took the lead after 23 minutes as a result of P. Manfredini's peach of a shot from the right hand side of the box - placed beautifully in the top corner. 1 - 0. D. Amsler of Habenichts received a yellow card after 31 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. niederbüren's M. Drange was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 39 minutes. M. Dubbeling increased Habenichts's lead to 2 - 0 with a penalty spot cannonball. It was 2 - 0 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to Habenichts, who controlled the ball 52 percent of the time.

Habenichts's P. Bocharov saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates after 60 minutes. Habenichts were determined to attack in the middle, even their wing attacks ended up centrally. M. Kamanin could have increased the lead after 65 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. Habenichts players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. Q. Ruehle should probably have put his team up another goal after 74 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by T. Duelund kept the visitors in the game. The bench was restless, and with 75 minutes passed niederbüren's coach gave B. Gianello the opportunity the player had been hoping for. V. Elşənzadə reluctantly left the field. niederbüren fought on and, after 75 minutes, B. Oriol was able to reduce the deficit to 2 - 1 after some excellent moves on the right side were finished off with an incredibly clever chip. Neither team was controlling the possession at this point in the match, with the stats showing a 50:50 split.

P. Manfredini performed admirably for Habenichts. S. Libano was a disappointment, however. niederbüren's best player was F. Burli. G. Winick on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 1.