Academia 2 - 0 Guarani (386835068)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 41573 at Arsenio Pastor Erico today. Manuel Eito was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jan Ericsson and Jörg Eisenpass. The derby had been the talk of Asunción all week and fans of both teams could be seen throughout the stadium. Academia tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. Starters: Výlet - Verón, Toledo, Erico, Livieres - Milito, Ashmarov, Cisternas, Vargas Peña - Costea, Vesterblom.

Guarani had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: Zambujal - Valdés, Aribau, Veisbunas - Ghenea, Strombeck, Kubicki, Óbidos, De Saegher - Valdivia, Cingolani.

Academia were mostly trying to use their skill at attacking on the flanks. Many thought D. Ashmarov ought to have been awarded a penalty 24 minutes into the game, as he went down trying to dribble around G. Zambujal after a determined run through the middle. 30 minutes in, Academia appeared unsure on how to play and their organisation was only passable. 32 minutes into the game, a swerving free kick by D. Ashmarov almost resulted in the home team taking the lead, but the shot glanced harmlessly off the frame of the goal. After 35 minutes, F. Cisternas came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 1 - 0, giving Academia the lead. 36 minutes into the game, Academia seemed a little tentative in their play as their organization fell to inadequate. 43 minutes into the game, L. Veisbunas had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came K. Walton. 1 - 0 was the halftime score. Academia had most of the ball, with 54 percent of possession.

The Academia players spent the break getting a rerun of the team's tactical organisation and regained a solid organisation when the game started again. Cheers filled the stadium as A. Milito broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 2 - 0 to Academia. D. Ashmarov left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 60 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. A. Niebrzegowski was the replacement. Content with how the game was proceeding, the Academia coach let E. Letelier replace P. Vesterblom after 60 minutes. E. Letelier became the new Academia captain. The referee showed Guarani's P. Cingolani the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. 63 minutes in, Guarani's V. Ghenea received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Academia were forced into a substitution as A. Niebrzegowski couldn't continue due to some rough treatment, forcing J. Meutstege to come in off the bench. When H. Verón was badly injured by a couple of strong tackles after 65 minutes, Academia fans were unhappy to discover that it was not possible to make a substitution. With 76 minutes played, G. Costea could have brought this one home for Academia as he charged up on the left, but his hooked ball went just a bit too high. Guarani had to make a substitution after 78 minutes. J. Valdés limped off the field and was replaced by M. Valverde. Guarani's right side looked dangerous after 82 minutes, as F. Valdivia broke through. M. Výlet continued to stifle them, however, as he made the save look easy. L. Óbidos of Guarani received a yellow card after 85 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. 87 minutes into the game, Academia seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion and they fell to a solid level of organisation. Possession in this half belonged to Guarani, who controlled the ball 54 percent of the time.

Most important Academia player was F. Cisternas. J. Meutstege turned in a dismal performance, however. Guarani's best player was P. Cingolani. M. Valverde on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 0.