Swansea 3 - 2 Snarf (386974204)

63347 spectators arrived at Striker Stadium, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Luka Živanović was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Alexandre Aires and Vladimir Vaganov. Swansea tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Starters: Ionescu - Martin, Buquera, Smyth - Kooper, Rischitelli, Shearman, Kubicza, Karlík - Persson, Vuorentaus.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Snarf. They fielded: de Barros - Darin, Istrate, Vaidla - Thorstensson, Kormány, Tiengen, Soraruf, Ruiz Tagle - Erickson, Majczyna.

For their match strategy, Snarf had decided to use their ability to counter-attack whenever possible. 2 minutes into the match and the home team took a 1 - 0 lead after breaking through on the left. The scorer for Swansea was D. Kooper. The visitors almost came back with an equaliser 5 minutes into the match after a good combination down the middle, but when I. Kormány tried to finish the attack, he couldn't deliver the shot hard enough to seriously challenge the keeper. The visitors kept the pressure on to tie the game when, after 13 minutes, I. Kormány broke through the centre and found himself alone with the keeper. S. Ionescu made a great block, though. Swansea's B. Persson refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 23 minutes. After 25 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by W. Smyth might have resulted in another goal for Swansea. However, B. de Barros made a spectacular save. 1 - 0 was the score after the first half. Possession in this half belonged to Swansea, who controlled the ball 57 percent of the time.

K. Vuorentaus could have increased the lead after 47 minutes, but his shot hit the post after a nice combination in the middle of the park. D. Majczyna's speed is always a threat when he gets a little room to move, and 54 minutes into the match was no different as he broke free of his man to send a delightful through ball to T. Erickson who knocked it in for Snarf. 1 - 1! A corner kick created great disorder in the penalty area with a goal nearly scored by B. Persson. At last, Swansea's R. Buquera was able to backheel the ball in. 2 - 1. Swansea's B. Persson was shown a yellow card after 67 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Coming from the right, K. Vuorentaus almost managed to score another goal for Swansea, but his header was tipped over the bar by the visitors' keeper. I. Kormány was in the clear after breaking the offside trap following a Snarf counterattack from the left after 81 minutes. His neat finish made the score 2 - 2. Proving his experience, B. Persson scored 3 - 2 for Swansea after putting some pressure on the opposing defence at a critical moment. With 83 minutes played, B. Persson could have brought this one home for Swansea as he charged up on the left, but his hooked ball went just a bit too high. Swansea's T. Martin left the field after 85 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was E. Pintore. Swansea claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 56 percent.

Swansea's top performer was clearly S. Ionescu. E. Pintore was a disappointment, however. Most important Snarf player was D. Majczyna. However, F. Ruiz Tagle made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 3 - 2.