antuã 2 - 4 Arrebenta (386325129)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 12000 had shown up at antuã Arena for the match. Ángel Gómez was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Tommy ''Gem'' Wallbo and Mario Cannone. antuã had chosen a strategic 4-4-2 formation. Lineup: Klatz - Pedron, Valenkov, Cordeiro, Gizante - Boullosa, Monteiro, Andrade, Montes - da Rocha, Heijdt.

Arrebenta started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Sampera - Cristache, Jugănaru, Johansen, van Veluwen - Bragone, Massé, Eslava, Montandon - Abolafio, Grego.

Arrebenta saw most attack opportunities on the wings. After 12 minutes N. Montes made a speedy advance and dropped the ball to M. Heijdt who shuffled it past the keeper. The score was now 1 - 0. Arrebenta had a chance to level the score as C. Abolafio suddenly found himself free in the middle of the box with only the keeper to beat, but he misjudged the finish, and only managed to hit the bar. The visitors' K. van Veluwen was alert after a cross coming in from the left, levelling the score at 1 - 1 after 33 minutes. 34 minutes into the match antuã's A. Andrade head butted an opponent nastily, and so the referee sent him off immediately. It was obvious that Arrebenta had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Arrebenta's K. van Veluwen after 35 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 1 - 2 lead. 37 minutes into the match, V. Grego came through the middle and almost added to his team's lead, but the shot went wide. Players in Arrebenta heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their central attacks to the wings instead. V. Grego of Arrebenta took advantage of a mistake on the home side's right after 39 minutes which increased the away team's lead to 1 - 3. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Arrebenta lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. 1 - 3 was the score after the first half. Arrebenta had most of the ball, with 68 percent of possession.

After 60 minutes of game time, K. van Veluwen had an excellent opportunity to add to the visitors' lead, clipping a volley hooked in from the right, but E. Klatz was in the right place and tipped the ball over for a corner. After 76 minutes, antuã were awarded a free kick as their counter attack broke down. The set piece was lifted over the top, intended to open up the defence. However, the target man seemed to be taken by surprise, and could not reach the ball before it crossed the line for a goal kick. The home crowd were delighted when D. Boullosa scored with a header after an attack from the right, making the score 2 - 3. But did he use his hand? That'll be one for the pundits to talk about after the game, that's for sure! Given a free kick close to the byline, Arrebenta tried a move that loyal fans may recognise from training. A pass to the side pulled the defence out of position which let K. van Veluwen slip through on goal. He didn't have to break his stride, and slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 2 - 4, 84 minutes into the game. By then K. van Veluwen had scored three goals - a hat trick! antuã's B. Monteiro refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 87 minutes. With 87 minutes played, M. Jugănaru 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. The referee showed antuã's Y. Valenkov the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Arrebenta's V. Grego went down after a savage challenge, but could continue playing after some medical attention. Arrebenta claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 66 percent.

The most dominating antuã player was without a doubt M. Heijdt. G. Pedron was a disappointment, however. Arrebenta's best player was M. Jugănaru. On the other hand, K. van Veluwen's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 4.