Babylon 1 - 3 Verdes (388103214)

41232 fans braved the pouring rain at Babylon Boys Arena. Bart Moukoko was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Matteo Battaglia and Rudolph Summhammer. Babylon decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. They fielded: Alevroyiannis - Eyza, Freijomil, Kanazirev - Bjørk, Uncini, Duvflod, Labyte, Fortuna - Abelhäuser, Örnblom.

Verdes tactics involved an interesting 2-5-3 combination. Lineup: Gustavsson - Wagret, Alexandersson - Valdman, Tornell, Ångström, Palmmar, Weisz - Strobl, Stark, Pinxten.

Verdes almost scored after a swift counterattack 8 minutes into the game, but H. Palmmar put the shot from the left flank just outside the goal. Babylon took the lead after 12 minutes as a result of S. Labyte's peach of a shot from the right hand side of the box - placed beautifully in the top corner. 1 - 0. As T. Fortuna had, completely unprovoked, swept the legs out from under an opponent in front of a linesman, the referee gave the Babylon player a red card without batting an eyelid. P. Gustavsson's knee will be throbbing for days, but thankfully for Verdes, he bravely continued in the match. The visitors' J. Ångström was alert after a cross coming in from the left, levelling the score at 1 - 1 after 28 minutes. The most controversial moment of the game was likely the penalty given after 33 minutes. Verdes's S. Wagret kept his concentration, despite the upset crowd, and calmly put the ball past the keeper to make the score 1 - 2. With the scoreboard showing that 37 minutes had been played, Verdes nearly put themselves up another goal after T. Pinxten came through on the left. Fortunately for the home crowd, the keeper made the save. It was 1 - 2 at the break. Babylon claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 51 percent.

Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Babylon's P. Kanazirev was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 46 minutes. Z. Dudić was given a chance to change things around. After 54 minutes, a mistake by the home side's left defence allowed H. Tornell to get through. He outclassed the home side's keeper, adding another goal for the visitors. 1 - 3. It was a bad day for the usually speedy M. Bjørk. The mud seemed to slow him down. Content with how the game was proceeding, the Verdes coach let J. Sippala replace M. Strobl after 60 minutes. The referee showed Verdes's J. Valdman the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The rain made it hard for players like C. Abelhäuser to show their technical control of the ball on this soggy day. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Babylon, with 53 percent of the ball.

The most dominating Babylon player was without a doubt D. Uncini. Z. Dudić was a disappointment, however. T. Pinxten performed admirably for Verdes. G. Alexandersson turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 1 - 3.