burdigala 4 - 3 Grave (385863576)

32207 punters turned up at burdigala Arena Star, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Jeffrey Alkemade was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Félix Gardon and Yehoshua Greenstein. burdigala tactics involved an interesting 3-4-3 combination. The following players took the field: Martín - Välimäki, Ameneiro, Gendronneau - Sevanyan, Marzin, Gmaj, Billon - Aimard, Bontemps, Jabbalah.

Grave decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. They fielded: Cvjetović - Aas, Kohm, Ganborena - Scocchi, Mikkonen, Larsen, Fournie, Gely - Biret, Veyssière.

After 25 minutes, C. Gmaj sent the corner kick right to M. Bontemps who headed it sharply past the keeper. 1 - 0! M. Mikkonen finished off a quick charge from the left of the field by chipping the ball just past the home side's keeper, making the score 1 - 1 26 minutes into the match. burdigala took the lead 33 minutes in, as I. Välimäki broke through on the left and put the 2 - 1 shot just beyond the reach of the outstretched keeper. 34 minutes into the game Grave's K. Larsen found a gap in the home side's central defence and scored with a fabulous shot, making it 2 - 2. Many thought C. Gmaj ought to have been awarded a penalty 35 minutes into the game, as he went down trying to dribble around T. Cvjetović after a determined run through the middle. burdigala had a good opportunity to take the lead as C. Gmaj came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into the arms of T. Cvjetović. 42 minutes into the game, J. Gely had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came T. Melvang. 2 - 2 was the score after the first half. Grave enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 54 percent of possession.

Making his way up the middle 58 minutes into the match, A. Aimard almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert T. Cvjetović blocked it to keep the score level. After 59 minutes, burdigala sent a free kick in high over the penalty box. In what looked like a well-rehearsed move, the ball was headed backwards and reached A. Aimard, who had plenty of space to place a well aimed shot - 3 - 2. After 78 minutes, the visitors levelled the scores after N. Veyssière made it through the middle and struck home to make it 3 - 3. M. Jabbalah caused the crowd to go mental with his goal up the middle after 79 minutes. This gave burdigala the 4 - 3 lead. Grave claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 53 percent.

The most dominating burdigala player was without a doubt M. Jabbalah. On the other hand, C. Gmaj's play was disheartening. Grave's top performer was clearly R. Biret. B. Scocchi turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 4 - 3.