Urtenen 2 - 1 Echo (384931512)

Due to an all-day shower, 21868 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at BSC Urtenen Arena. Mãdãlin Ionitã was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Tommaso Montella and Anders Hallgren. A 5-3-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Urtenen. They fielded: Navarro - Brognolli, Füeg, Grafen, Rentschler, Salm - Choi, Krannila, Nairi - Virko, Cacace.

Echo tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Starters: Feijoo - Klader, Blagoev, Feuz - Bianco, Vahip, Fyhrlind, Maat, Henriksson - Bonneville, Kötzting.

Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of Urtenen. Echo clearly preferred using their ability to attack in the middle. Urtenen had a chance to take the lead after T. Virko's dazzling drive up the left, but the opportunity fizzled out as his shot went just over the bar after 3 minutes. After 7 minutes, T. Virko came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 1 - 0, giving Urtenen the lead. Urtenen put in a good effort on the right, but L. Cacace saw his volley fly wide of the mark 31 minutes into the game. Echo had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks. The counterattacks of Urtenen were deadly and 33 minutes into the game, M. Rentschler received a nice pass from the right flank, making it 2 - 0. The teams went for the halftime break at 2 - 0. Echo claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 60 percent.

Morale on the visitors' bench was greatly improved when their G. Maat reduced the lead to make it 2 - 1 after 55 minutes, following a pass from the right. Echo were determined to attack in the middle, even their wing attacks ended up centrally. 74 minutes into the game, N. Feuz had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came N. Katsampas. M. Blagoev came close to levelling the score 76 minutes into the game, as he was set up with a through ball coming in from the left, but his shot hit the post. G. Füeg was having a great game - if anything the pouring rain seemed to be spurring him on! After 85 minutes, the Urtenen players received new instructions from their manager on how to keep in control of the game. The Urtenen coach was visibly pleased with the score so far, but still ordered a few tactical changes 85 minutes into the game. Echo players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. Urtenen almost scored after a swift counterattack 86 minutes into the game, but T. Krannila put the shot from the left flank just outside the goal. With 88 minutes played, the visitors could have drawn level after Y. Vahip came through the middle, but his kick went wide. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Echo, with 63 percent of the ball.

Urtenen's top performer was clearly L. Cacace. J. Brognolli turned in a dismal performance, however. Most important Echo player was C. Kötzting. However, N. Henriksson made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 1.