morto 0 - 4 Esponjas (386345707)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 4695 at peso morto Arena today. Viggo Laue Friis was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Cedric Bosscher and Eric Keenan. morto decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. They fielded: Gomes - Fernandes, Carvalho Soares, Egas, Guarda - da Cruz, Frederico, Santana, Ramos Mendes - Vaz, Adagas.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Esponjas. Starters: Lourenço - Calado, Dias, Fernandes - Fernandes, Robalo, Ociepka, Borowski, Amaro Pereira - Teixeira Neves, Azevedo Costa.

It was an obvious ambition of Esponjas to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. The Esponjas free kick 6 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But was this actually a plan? The ball landed at the feet of A. Robalo, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 0 - 1! An indecisive keeper looked on as a free kick by Esponjas's E. Fernandes put the visitors up 0 - 2 after 26 minutes. E. Fernandes increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 0 - 3. By now, the players in Esponjas felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. Esponjas were determined to attack on the wing and their central attempts were constantly abandoned in favour of the wings. Esponjas's Á. Azevedo Costa made it through the home team's defence on the right hand side 29 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. 0 - 3 was the halftime score. Esponjas claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 69 percent.

V. Teixeira Neves 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 L. Gomes but overcooked it and hit the bar instead. The visitors' Á. Azevedo Costa took advantage of a misunderstanding between the home side's goalie and centre backs 63 minutes into the match. 0 - 4 for Esponjas. A defender managed to keep the ball from crossing the goal-line after a curling shot coming in from the right from V. Teixeira Neves after 72 minutes, and prevented Esponjas from going up another goal. The referee showed morto's P. Carvalho Soares the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The home crowd cheered when, after 78 minutes, B. Fernandes's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. Esponjas's W. Ociepka was shown a yellow card after 84 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Esponjas enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 71 percent of possession.

Most important morto player was M. Ramos Mendes. N. Santana turned in a dismal performance, however. W. Ociepka performed admirably for Esponjas. W. Borowski was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 4.