Crazies 4 - 2 tchimolala (386307308)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 20290 at Crazies Arena today. Giuliano Maioli was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Olav Burcken and Roope Luukkonen. Crazies tactics involved an interesting 5-3-2 combination. Lineup: Gándara - Goriupp, Grinwis, Guarita, Dias, Paiva - Likovnik, Moreira, Toffan - Locke, Enes.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for tchimolala. The following players had been chosen: Raguenel - Echanove, Ottosen, Cachão - Kim, Majolino, Menichetti, Grasel, Bastos - Pedrayo, Lahtinen.

tchimolala displayed their ability to play creatively. Crazies made it 1 - 0 as K. Locke got a touch to the floated corner kick and flicked the ball to S. Likovnik who whipped a low drive in off the far post. After 14 minutes, the visitors levelled the scores after J. Kim made it through the middle and struck home to make it 1 - 1. Crazies had to make a substitution after 17 minutes. K. Locke limped off the field and was replaced by D. Fonseca. D. Enes of Crazies seemed to be floating in the air as he elegantly headed in to make the score 2 - 1 after a corner kick that was nicely executed by M. Paiva. One of many good crosses from J. Kim on the wing was received and skillfully taken care of by R. Lahtinen, who scored for tchimolala. 2 - 2 At 21 minutes played, D. Fonseca came in from the right with the intention of giving Crazies the lead, but his rocket of a shot rattled the crossbar. tchimolala's J. Kim refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 22 minutes. Crazies could have put themselves ahead after 32 minutes but T. Grinwis missed a volley shot on a ball coming in from the right. With 34 minutes played, the home side managed to get a 3 - 2 lead as S. Likovnik flipped the ball in after a cross from the right. 3 - 2 was the score after the first half. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by tchimolala, with 58 percent of the ball.

After 56 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by M. Paiva might have resulted in another goal for Crazies. However, M. Raguenel made a spectacular save. The Crazies players could smell victory in the air. V. Moreira wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for J. Désiré after 65 minutes. J. Gándara wanted to play on, but the Crazies coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 70 minutes into the game by C. Andrade Oliveira. tchimolala were close to putting the equaliser away after 84 minutes as the opposing defence lost control of the ball to P. Menichetti in a scuffle towards the left of the goal, but in the end the ball was cleared over the dead ball line. tchimolala's C. Majolino had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 85 minutes having been played. D. Assenjee was the replacement. Cheers filled the stadium as J. Désiré broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 4 - 2 to Crazies. tchimolala claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 55 percent.

D. Enes performed admirably for Crazies. C. Andrade Oliveira on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important tchimolala player was R. Lahtinen. D. Assenjee turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 4 - 2.