Cerb 4 - 3 Blinkmaster (387174746)

40319 punters turned up at Erehsi stadium, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Fredrik Bokby was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Lennard Mantey and Frederic Aucoin. Everyone was excited about the upcoming Almaty Kalasy derby and the crowd was divided evenly. Cerb started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Colon - Lombardi, Moreno, Spöerer - Isabekov, Cervera, Bänninger, Abdildin, Costea - Akanaev, Abilkasimov.

Blinkmaster tactics involved an interesting 3-4-3 combination. The following players had been chosen: Dutra - Uzeel, Stacewicz, Pohjankoski - Aisagaliev, Neckebroeck, Stecher, Cardona - Idogay, Gardil, Kovalis.

It was an obvious ambition of Cerb to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. Going for long shots seemed to be the strategy in use by Blinkmaster. Some good play on the left wing created an opportunity for the visitors 5 minutes into the match, and P. Idogay wasn't about to let it go by. He got past the defenders and fired a shot that the keeper just missed. 0 - 1 for the visitors. Given a free kick close to the byline, Blinkmaster tried a move that loyal fans may recognise from training. A pass to the side pulled the defence out of position which let S. Kovalis slip through on goal. He didn't have to break his stride, and slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 0 - 2, 16 minutes into the game. 17 minutes into the game Cerb broke through on the left wing and Ó. Cervera managed to reduce the lead to 1 - 2. 33 minutes in, Blinkmaster's N. Aisagaliev received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. 35 minutes in, and Cerb were able to score the equalising goal to make it 2 - 2 when I. Spöerer picked up a pass coming in from the right and chipped it past the away team's keeper. Blinkmaster took the lead 36 minutes into the game, making the score 2 - 3 after some elegant movement down the middle. S. Kovalis was the scorer. 2 - 3 was the score after the first half. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Cerb, with 60 percent of the ball.

After 66 minutes, following yet another great corner, P. Lombardi's flick on at the near post reached D. Akanaev, who was just wide with his snapshot - the ball went out for a goal kick. After a fatal mistake from the away team's right side defence 72 minutes into the match, an alert K. Abdildin bagged the ball for Cerb, levelling the score to 3 - 3. Cerb were determined to attack on the wing and their central attempts were constantly abandoned in favour of the wings. With 81 minutes played, the home side managed to get a 4 - 3 lead as M. Abilkasimov flipped the ball in after a cross from the right. Cerb's J. Bänninger left the field after 84 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was C. Yakalı. Blinkmaster's right side looked dangerous 85 minutes in, but L. Colon made a good save on J. Gardil's hard shot to the top corner. Cerb claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 59 percent.

The most dominating Cerb player was without a doubt M. Isabekov. L. Colon was a disappointment, however. Blinkmaster's best player was S. Kovalis. N. Aisagaliev turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 4 - 3.