Sp.Covilhã 1 - 3 SFC (386267837)

Dark skies made the crowd of 21888 at BlackScorpions Estádio a little nervous, but the rain held off. Ricco Hibbs was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Maximilian Sprendlingen and Jean-Pierre Bensoussan. Sp.Covilhã decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. The following players had been chosen: Kiss - Doohan, Petrov, Canga-Arguelles - Swatko, Mairinque, Næsborg, Tacconi, Sá Almeida - Ginko, Barril.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for SFC. The following players took the field: Hauenschild - Boev, Mansikka-aho, Zebedeo - Lengenfelder, Baias, Falbo, Hansehalle, Logen - Azevedo Martins, Theer.

Today, Sp.Covilhã's strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. 25 minutes into the match, the visiting SFC made the score 0 - 1 after S. Lengenfelder executed a perfect free kick. A defender managed to keep the ball from crossing the goal-line after a curling shot coming in from the right from L. Boev after 31 minutes, and prevented SFC from going up another goal. With 35 minutes played, T. Falbo nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through in the middle and fired from just outside the box, but his shot passed just over the bar. Coming in from the right, Sp.Covilhã had a good opportunity to convert on a counterattack after 36 minutes, but J. Barril's attempt to finish was easily stopped. After 42 minutes, S. Lengenfelder sent the corner kick right to T. Falbo who headed it sharply past the keeper. 0 - 2! The players of SFC now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. The visitors added to their lead 43 minutes into the game, after a sensational penalty kick by SFC's S. Lengenfelder slid just past the home keeper. 0 - 3. Halftime score was 0 - 3. SFC enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 56 percent of possession.

A. Baias 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 M. Kiss but overcooked it and hit the bar instead. One of many good crosses from J. Sá Almeida on the wing was received and skillfully taken care of by A. Ginko, who scored for Sp.Covilhã. 1 - 3 SFC had most of the ball, with 54 percent of possession.

Sp.Covilhã's top performer was clearly I. Petrov. On the other hand, M. Kiss's play was disheartening. SFC's best player was P. Azevedo Martins. Q. Hauenschild on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 3.