İ.H.L 4 - 1 Ayaydınspor (388994842)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 10752 at İ.H.L Arena today. Alf Ege was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ivar Johansen and Jean-Claude Rigollet. İ.H.L had chosen a strategic 2-5-3 formation. Starters: Rahmet - Papanastasatos, Oğultürk - Sirimou, Kovačić, Amaireh, El-Qasem, Unterhauser - Redecker, Mani, Halik.

Ayaydınspor started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. They fielded: Bussaraprapakul - Querelle, Athanasopoulos, Negrić, Rafn - Okver, Ventura, Săvan, Žeriav - Coulter, Garnier.

Ayaydınspor displayed their ability to play creatively. Down the middle came J. Žeriav, making a fantastic play that nearly had Ayaydınspor take the lead after 3 minutes, but T. Rahmet preserved the tie. With 13 minutes played, the home side managed to get a 1 - 0 lead as S. Mani flipped the ball in after a cross from the right. With 13 minutes played, the Ayaydınspor coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around. S. Savtunç came on, I. Bussaraprapakul had to leave the fray. Ayaydınspor needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 13 minutes M. Coulter made way for K. Angelov. A corner kick created great disorder in the penalty area with a goal nearly scored by E. Săvan. At last, Ayaydınspor's N. Athanasopoulos was able to backheel the ball in. 1 - 1. Ayaydınspor almost scored after a counterattack 16 minutes into the match, but A. Querelle took a shot from the left that landed harmlessly in the side of the net. K. Angelov had a good opportunity to give Ayaydınspor the lead as he charged down the right and struck the ball towards the top corner, but the home team's goalkeeper made the save. H. Redecker gave İ.H.L the lead as he successfully challenged the guests' central defenders, then slotted the ball into the bottom corner, giving the keeper no chance. 2 - 1 The teams went for the halftime break at 2 - 1. Possession in this half belonged to İ.H.L, who controlled the ball 62 percent of the time.

After 53 minutes, İ.H.L's S. Mani fell awkwardly, but was determined to stay in the match. That's the spirit! A. Papanastasatos could have put İ.H.L up one more, but he fired into the side netting after breaking free on the left after 69 minutes. 87 minutes into the game, İ.H.L were awarded a penalty that H. Redecker turned into 3 - 1 without a problem. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, E. Săvan got himself booked. The manager of Ayaydınspor was not happy. With 89 minutes played, İ.H.L's S. Mani almost extended the lead, but his shot from the left glanced off the top of the bar to fall behind the net. İ.H.L solidified their lead at the 89 minute mark, as M. Kovačić dribbled the ball through the opposing central defence and scored to make it 4 - 1. At this point, it was obvious that the players of İ.H.L lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. Ayaydınspor's T. Rafn was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 89 minutes. İ.H.L claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 64 percent.

O. Halik performed admirably for İ.H.L. S. Mani turned in a dismal performance, however. Most important Ayaydınspor player was G. Ventura. T. Rafn was a disappointment, however. The match ends 4 - 1.