Buddhas 2 - 2 Spotlight (387136562)

The 22000 fans in attendance at The temple were roasting in the hot sun. Daniel Brandt was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Matías Quintero and Silviu Bãdoiu. Buddhas had chosen a strategic 5-3-2 formation. The following players took the field: Rooy - Siegmund, Briotti, Gaggiola, Florin, Roeyord - Ferra, Bassi, Georev - Talayngam, Fiapo.

Spotlight started off with a 4-5-1 lineup. Starters: Araos - Long, Mameli, Bunghitu, Zbrzyzny - Gallinas, Balle, Thystål, Kosturek, Gasser - Bernhardsson.

O. Fiapo hit the corner kick straight to the keeper, but it was mishandled, giving Buddhas's D. Briotti an easy chance to knock it in for 1 - 0. After 24 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by N. Gaggiola might have resulted in another goal for Buddhas. However, M. Araos made a spectacular save. With 27 minutes played, seemingly due to lack of experience, D. Briotti needlessly tripped an opponent just outside the penalty area, but the free kick that followed didn't succeed. 33 minutes into the match the visitors levelled the score at 1 - 1 as M. Gallinas struck home from a rebound off the crossbar, following a shot from the right. 38 minutes into the game, Spotlight wanted to bring some new energy to their game. L. Balle gave F. Loubière a quick hug as he left the field. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 1. Possession in this half belonged to Spotlight, who controlled the ball 51 percent of the time.

50 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a Spotlight substitution. A. Klausen came on for M. Thystål. C. Ferra would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise. V. Muralidharan entered the game for Buddhas as the match clock showed 60 minutes. After a fine move down the middle D. Georev nearly gave the home side a goal after 65 minutes. However the finishing shot went just wide. Making his way up the middle 70 minutes into the match, O. Fiapo almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert M. Araos blocked it to keep the score level. The intense heat forced M. Gallinas into making some errors because he couldn't seem to keep up with the others. After 84 minutes, Buddhas 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. After 85 minutes, Spotlight put themselves up 1 - 2, as M. Gasser finished off a strike from the left with a real cannonball of a shot. 86 minutes in, and Buddhas were able to score the equalising goal to make it 2 - 2 when N. Gaggiola picked up a pass coming in from the right and chipped it past the away team's keeper. Neither team were able to dominate possession this half.

Most important Buddhas player was C. Bassi. However, N. Gaggiola made a disastrous appearance. F. Loubière performed admirably for Spotlight. L. Mameli on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 2 - 2.