Dogs 5 - 2 ISOHALI (385473498)

The 51739 fans in attendance at Hot Dogs Arena were roasting in the hot sun. Juan-Carlos Volkmann was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Eelse Broeders and Lionel Duscher. Dogs tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players took the field: Hassinen - Stefanelli, Infante, Vilches - Dragone, Zboina, Tero, Paulos, Heras Hermosilla - Dimitriu, Pálffy.

A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for ISOHALI. Lineup: Troncon - Väänänen, Nedelcovici - Hilton, Vesala, Valkonen, Ekqvist, Pirskanen - Roos, de Almeida, Fournier.

Dogs were mostly trying to use their skill at attacking on the flanks. After 8 minutes of play, V. Dimitriu gave the home team a 1 - 0 lead after an attack coming in from the right. With 12 minutes played, the visitors could have drawn level after J. Väänänen came through the middle, but his kick went wide. Several players seemed a little dazed by the warm weather, and were repeatedly tricked by the clever and agile V. Dimitriu. 20 minutes into the game ISOHALI's H. Roos found a gap in the home side's central defence and scored with a fabulous shot, making it 1 - 1. After 20 minutes, ISOHALI's J. Pirskanen made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 1 - 2. A. de Almeida came close to extending the visitors' lead when he found himself completely unmarked in front of the goal after a pass through the middle. He tried to lift the ball over R. Hassinen but overcooked it and hit the bar instead. 1 - 2 was the score after the first half. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Dogs, with 60 percent of the ball.

The intense heat forced J. Pirskanen into making some errors because he couldn't seem to keep up with the others. 68 minutes in, and Dogs were able to score the equalising goal to make it 2 - 2 when V. Dimitriu picked up a pass coming in from the right and chipped it past the away team's keeper. The home side put themselves ahead 3 - 2 after 82 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from E. Infante, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing. Usually a powerful player on the field, T. Nedelcovici looked kind of pale and tired under the hot sun. C. Dragone increased the lead for Dogs to 4 - 2, 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! After 88 minutes, following yet another great corner, J. Väänänen's flick on at the near post reached J. Hilton, who was just wide with his snapshot - the ball went out for a goal kick. V. Dimitriu could have put Dogs up one more, but he fired into the side netting after breaking free on the left after 89 minutes. Dogs solidified their lead at the 89 minute mark, as J. Heras Hermosilla dribbled the ball through the opposing central defence and scored to make it 5 - 2. Dogs had most of the ball, with 62 percent of possession.

Most important Dogs player was V. Dimitriu. However, C. Dragone made a disastrous appearance. P. Ekqvist performed admirably for ISOHALI. J. Väänänen on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 5 - 2.