Academia 2 - 0 Inter (386835053)

37847 punters turned up at Arsenio Pastor Erico, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Markus Holmberg was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Valery Khairov and Davide Manelli. Fans of both teams had been eagerly awaiting this Asunción derby and were doing their best to outshout their opponents. Academia decided to use a 5-4-1 set up. They fielded: Guardamagna - Verón, Vargas Peña, Erico, Livieres, Toledo - Milito, Cisternas, López, Letelier - Vesterblom.

Inter tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Philipot - Juárez, Rodríguez Pérez, Bakos - Zawodny, Wicky, Stefanović, Gamboa, Lázaro Serrano - Saavedra, Núñez.

Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for Academia. Inter saw most attack opportunities on the wings. L. Gamboa fired a shot from distance after 4 minutes, but the long shot couldn't find the net for Inter. Academia's defence sent a ball soaring up the middle on a beautiful counterattack with 5 minutes gone, but P. Vesterblom's finish was met by the reaching hands of the keeper. Academia made it 1 - 0 as R. Livieres got a touch to the floated corner kick and flicked the ball to D. Erico who whipped a low drive in off the far post. Inter had a chance to level the score as L. Wicky 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. C. Saavedra came close to levelling the score 25 minutes into the game, as he was set up with a through ball coming in from the left, but his shot hit the post. With the clock showing 26 minutes played, a great pass from the defensive line of Academia resulted in a counterattack that was smoothly brought under control by L. Toledo in the centre of the opposition's penalty area, but his finish went high. P. Vesterblom unleashed a swerving effort from the right that the visitors' keeper did well to tip wide. It was 1 - 0 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to Inter, who controlled the ball 56 percent of the time.

As the game started to slip away for Inter, the manager decided to change the tactical approach. D. Erico wanted to play on, but the Academia coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 58 minutes into the game by O. Montorfano. S. Guardamagna's name was chanted throughout the stadium after he made a fantastic save from Z. Zawodny's shot from the left 66 minutes into the match. A quick counter attack by Academia forced the opponent's defender to give away a freekick. P. Vesterblom was allowed to take it quickly by the referee, much to the dismay of the goalkeeper who wasn't prepared. 2 - 0! Unhappy with the result so far in the game, the Inter manager used a brief break in play after 68 minutes to give the players new directives. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave L. Lázaro Serrano from Inter a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 68 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! There was concern in the stands when, at the 69 minute mark, Inter's A. Rodríguez Pérez hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. Inter needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 75 minutes L. Lázaro Serrano made way for R. Carvacho. After 75 minutes, Inter switched F. Juárez with P. Delgadillo, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. The coach of Academia was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 75 minutes, D. Carlino came on for P. Vesterblom. D. Carlino was handed the Academia captain's armband. After 75 minutes, L. Wicky came close to reducing the score with a free kick aimed near the left post, but S. Guardamagna warded the ball off to a corner. A free kick just outside of the visitors' penalty area after 76 minutes could have resulted in another goal, but T. Philipot got a hand out and tipped the ball over the bar. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Inter's L. Stefanović was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 80 minutes. T. Cummings was given a chance to change things around. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Inter, with 56 percent of the ball.

Most important Academia player was F. Cisternas. However, D. Carlino made a disastrous appearance. The most dominating Inter player was without a doubt V. Núñez. R. Carvacho was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 0.