ExiLio 0 - 1 cuernavaca (389952018)

Dark skies made the crowd of 49126 at Estadio Tecate a little nervous, but the rain held off. Marcos Vilaseca was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ruud-Jan Steenbakkers and Amador Canudo. ExiLio tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Ðuričanin - Mikkelsen, Stuzmann, Fagerer - Kreutmeier, Fernández, Ghudari, Almanzor, Gaarde - Mulazzani, Padkjær.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for cuernavaca. Starters: Nosti - Lernbeck, Davalos, Palomino - Beard, Wahl, Tamayo, Berntorp, Esteves - Alfaro, Dina.

ExiLio had a chance to take the lead after R. Fernández's dazzling drive up the left, but the opportunity fizzled out as his shot went just over the bar after 12 minutes. Making his way up the middle 27 minutes into the match, F. Stuzmann almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert P. Nosti blocked it to keep the score level. ExiLio's A. Kreutmeier left the field after 28 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was A. Mandujano. The guests almost went up by a goal after 29 minutes when H. Tamayo came through and shot from the right. The ball bounced harmlessly off the post, though. cuernavaca took the lead 35 minutes into the game, making the score 0 - 1 after some elegant movement down the middle. F. Lernbeck was the scorer. Halftime score was 0 - 1. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by ExiLio, with 62 percent of the ball.

The bench was restless, and with 50 minutes passed ExiLio's coach gave N. Gaona the opportunity the player had been hoping for. R. Fernández reluctantly left the field. ExiLio's F. Stuzmann had a hard, curved free kick after 80 minutes that would have paid off, had it gone just a little lower. ExiLio claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 65 percent.

F. Almanzor performed admirably for ExiLio. A. Mandujano turned in a dismal performance, however. The most dominating cuernavaca player was without a doubt D. Dina. However, A. Esteves made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 0 - 1.