KDD 1 - 0 Irbis (387199866)

The 43347 fans in attendance at Plyuk were roasting in the hot sun. Kristof Deman was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Carlos Gonçalves and Robert Dukic. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for KDD. The following players took the field: Mudrak - Poretti, Caranfa, Dvorkin - Lima, Nisonen, Elbing, Hernes, Schneidereit - Palmen, Franco.

Irbis decided to use a 2-5-3 set up. Starters: Vyatkin - Beschastny, Ionov - Navrotskiy, Samsonkin, Shlykov, Parfeniev, Larichev - Zavitaev, Manzhos, Garan.

The guests almost went up by a goal after 6 minutes when L. Samsonkin came through and shot from the right. The ball bounced harmlessly off the post, though. M. Mudrak looked great 7 minutes into the match after stopping a shot from the middle of the penalty area from the visitors' F. Garan. KDD could have put themselves ahead after 17 minutes but X. Palmen missed a volley shot on a ball coming in from the right. 0 - 0 was the halftime score. This part of the game was a standoff between the teams in terms of possession.

The home crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief when L. Zavitaev was unable to put the ball in the net after his show of skill down the left 50 minutes into the match. He was seen beating the pitch in frustration at missing such a good chance to give his team the lead! KDD fans held their breath as X. Palmen scampered down the left side. He successfully avoided all challenges and cracked home the shot for 1 - 0! With the clock showing 61 minutes played, a great pass from the defensive line of Irbis resulted in a counterattack that was smoothly brought under control by F. Garan in the centre of the opposition's penalty area, but his finish went high. Several players seemed a little dazed by the warm weather, and were repeatedly tricked by the clever and agile F. Garan. KDD's C. Elbing refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 71 minutes. Coming through the middle V. Manzhos almost scored the equaliser for Irbis after 72 minutes, but M. Mudrak made an excellent save, tipping the awkwardly curled shot past the post. KDD's C. Elbing saw his fine effort strike the top of the bar following some good work up the middle by his teammates after 73 minutes. 79 minutes in, KDD's W. Caranfa received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. KDD had most of the ball, with 52 percent of possession.

Most important KDD player was R. Franco. S. Lima on the other hand, had a terrible day. Irbis's best player was F. Garan. However, M. Ionov made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 0.