Desportivo 0 - 1 Venda (386258954)

A brilliantly sunny day had enticed a crowd of 36134 to Arena Mágica d' "Os Nabos". Billy De Flandre was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Matthew Sanditon and Richard Taylor. Fans of both teams had been eagerly awaiting this Lisboa derby and were doing their best to outshout their opponents. Desportivo tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Starters: Schmising - Helo, Bonavita, Pradal - Junkkarinen, Ömo, Strzyżyński, Dobrovolszki, Dostaly - Ramo Martínez, Lopes Faria.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Venda. The following players took the field: Klanghult - Vlaeminck, Voskamp, Stolz - Topliyski, Hollfeld, Malavazos, Nakov, Sá - Knežić, Pardeike.

3 minutes into the game, A. Pardeike almost gave the visitors the lead, as he clipped a delicate lob over the keeper, but the ball glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. Desportivo's C. Pradal tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but couldn't get past the visitors' defenders. After a fine move down the middle V. Dobrovolszki nearly gave the home side a goal after 10 minutes. However the finishing shot went just wide. It was 0 - 0 at the break. Venda claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 53 percent.

46 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a Desportivo substitution. J. Rincón came on for A. Dostaly. As the 53 minute mark approached, the Desportivo coach decided it was time for a substitution. W. Strzyżyński reluctantly made way for H. Azevedo Gomes on the pitch. As the captain was no longer on the pitch, C. Ömo took over the role of being the Desportivo captain. Desportivo had a chance to take the lead after L. Bonavita's dazzling drive up the left, but the opportunity fizzled out as his shot went just over the bar after 60 minutes. With 70 minutes played, the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending. A. Pardeike put the ball away for 0 - 1. After 71 minutes, the Venda players received new instructions from their manager on how to keep in control of the game. The Venda coach was visibly pleased with the score so far, but still ordered a few tactical changes 71 minutes into the game. The coach of Venda was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 71 minutes, H. Wantke came on for P. Knežić. In an effort to secure the lead, Venda changed their tactic after 71 minutes. The fierce heat made it important to save breath, and after a few swift runs H. Azevedo Gomes found it hard to get back into position. Venda's N. Malavazos made it through the home team's defence on the right hand side 78 minutes into the match. After rounding the keeper, he only had to place the ball in the unguarded goal when a defender slid in and cleared the ball off the line. With 79 minutes gone, a long pass from the defence of Desportivo resulted in a counterattack that set J. Helo free through the middle, but the keeper made a spectacular diving save. T. Schmising got a fingertip on R. Stolz's shot from the left 84 minutes in, and managed to keep the visitors from going up another goal. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Venda, with 61 percent of the ball.

The most dominating Desportivo player was without a doubt V. Dobrovolszki. On the other hand, T. Schmising's play was disheartening. Venda's top performer was clearly L. Hollfeld. However, F. Klanghult made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 0 - 1.