ECV 3 - 1 Pourothen (385856798)

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 50099 to Stade Olivier ROBERT. Vidar Grøtterud was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Dominik Maurer and Bruno Pronk. ECV started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Rebai - Khorava, Luc, Naili - Anselme, Montane, Denis, Hureau, Cottin - Carteron, Coudurier.

Pourothen tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Starters: Dumont - Merville, Blanchard, Lecordier - Pelissier, Paumier, Lebigre, Thévenard, Brossard - Champenois, Montier.

ECV took the lead 11 minutes into the game by 1 - 0, as P. Montane elegantly received a long range pass through the middle, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar. 32 minutes into the match, Pourothen's É. Montier demonstrated his famed speed as he raced past his marker and passed the ball to P. Champenois who chipped it in for 1 - 1. They were singing the praises of T. Coudurier 33 minutes into the match after his speculative chip from the middle of the penalty box found its way over the visitors' keeper to make the score 2 - 1 to ECV. An equalising goal seemed certain after 33 minutes when B. Pelissier attacked down the left wing, but R. Rebai just managed to make a save to keep the ball out of the net. Halftime score was 2 - 1. ECV enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 55 percent of possession.

Content with how the game was proceeding, the ECV coach let D. Lebec replace D. Cottin after 60 minutes. While defending the ECV lead, N. Anselme got a new role. 61 minutes in the game, his coach ordered him to change positions with D. Lebec. A lovely run by Pourothen's É. Montier left his markers for dead and should have resulted in a goal, but the finish went just wide. 72 minutes into the game, Pourothen were awarded a penalty and a chance to draw level. É. Montier, probably due to the gravity of the situation, seemed unable to stay focused, and shot wide. 76 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as T. Coudurier broke through, making the score 3 - 1 for ECV. After this, you could see that the players of ECV were more interested in killing time than scoring more goals. The referee showed ECV's M. Khorava the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. ECV's J. Naili placed the ball right at his teammate's feet after a corner, but D. Lebec couldn't finish. ECV's D. Luc saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates after 81 minutes. ECV claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 55 percent.

ECV's best player was T. Coudurier. On the other hand, N. Anselme's play was disheartening. Pourothen's top performer was clearly L. Lebigre. X. Thévenard turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 3 - 1.