FCM 4 - 4 Tapout (388518978)

Clouds darkened the skies at MARIANO-Arena as 26248 spectators turned up for the match. Olof Dyrwald was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Hubert Jaspers and José Zeferino. FCM started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Faldella - van Gog, Mena, Grégoire - Wilfart, Campanaro, Barroso, Schiettekatte, Tsirlidis - Palamides, Desogus.

Tapout tactics involved an interesting 2-5-3 combination. The following players had been chosen: Trapletti - Drużkowski, Adriaens - Bindelle, Bash, Biezenveld, Lavia, Bekkering - Luzak, Płoński, Juntip.

FCM clearly preferred using their ability to attack in the middle. After 2 minutes, Tapout's R. Luzak made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 0 - 1. Tapout's D. Bekkering was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the opposition's box - R. Luzak managed to volley one of them into the net to make it 0 - 2 after 11 minutes. The players of Tapout now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. With 14 minutes gone, FCM had a free kick in a decent position. Despite this being a great chance for a shot, they tried a cheeky move intended to bypass the defence. However, T. Desogus did not manage to connect with it cleanly and the ball went out. FCM reduced the lead to 1 - 2 with 23 minutes on the clock when U. van Gog got the best of a ball floated in from the left. A handball in the penalty area gave the home team a penalty 26 minutes into the match, and A. Tsirlidis was able to score, taking the scoreline to 2 - 2. FCM players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. FCM had a good opportunity to take the lead as U. van Gog came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into the arms of H. Trapletti. 2 - 2 was the score after the first half. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by FCM, with 51 percent of the ball.

Tapout's A. Juntip managed to lose the defenders as he advanced down the right wing and scored, putting the visitors ahead after 60 minutes. 2 - 3. With 64 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed E. Płoński of Tapout to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 2 - 4. 65 minutes in, FCM's R. Palamides received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. 72 minutes into the match, A. Juntip came through the middle and almost added to his team's lead, but the shot went wide. After 81 minutes Tapout's T. Bash had to be carried off on a stretcher in agony. N. Witsen came in to replace him. It took several tries, but FCM managed to break through on the left after 87 minutes, getting the ball to A. Tsirlidis who easily reduced the lead to make the score 3 - 4. 88 minutes into the match, FCM's R. Palamides maneuvered his way around the opposition on the left flank, delighting the crowd with his twists and turns. The effort paid off as the ball found the back of the net, evening the score at 4 - 4. FCM claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 58 percent.

The most dominating FCM player was without a doubt R. Barroso. On the other hand, A. Mena's play was disheartening. Tapout's best player was I. Drużkowski. C. Bindelle turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 4 - 4.