Arsenal 2 - 3 Tractor (390051032)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and Minor Hurt Major Scar Arena saw a crowd turnout of 31230. Carmelo Crispino was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Mikko Syrjäkoski and Lucio Fortunato. Arsenal started off with a 2-5-3 lineup. They fielded: Karczyński - Dorren, Blãnaru - Teixeira Tavares, Fernández Mugartegui, von Bonsdorff, Poitevin, Teixeira - Le Fur, Bubiak, Necile.

Tractor decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. The following players took the field: Loonstein - Lyons, Crooks, Freudenthaler, Shelley - Petrescu, Sablik, Núñez de Aza, Gaizaráin - Mingo, Vanherbergen.

Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for Tractor. The home side put themselves ahead 1 - 0 after 5 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from B. Necile, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing. Tractor's R. Lyons got himself booked for a foul. Arsenal were forced into a substitution as P. Bubiak couldn't continue due to some rough treatment, forcing A. Gin to come in off the bench. Tractor tied it all up, 30 minutes in, after a spectacular goal by G. Shelley, who miraculously broke through the home side's central defence, making it 1 - 1. G. Shelley of Tractor was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. Making his way up the middle 37 minutes into the match, A. Le Fur almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert Y. Loonstein blocked it to keep the score level. Arsenal's B. Necile was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 38 minutes. It was 1 - 1 at the break. Arsenal claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 59 percent.

M. Dorren would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise. J. Grana entered the game for Arsenal as the match clock showed 50 minutes. Some great play up the middle by Arsenal led to a chance for A. Teixeira Tavares to score after 50 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 61 minutes allowed G. Vanherbergen to score for Tractor. The scoreboard now read 1 - 2. As the game started to slip away for Arsenal, the manager decided to change the tactical approach. Tractor were great at switching from defence to attack, and after 78 minutes, C. Sablik swept through the middle on a counterattack, making the score 1 - 3. The home team's supporters got excited again when C. Poitevin broke through the visitors' central defence and caught their keeper off guard, making it 2 - 3. Arsenal had most of the ball, with 59 percent of possession.

Most important Arsenal player was A. Le Fur. A. Gin turned in a dismal performance, however. Tractor's top performer was clearly F. Mingo. However, R. Lyons made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 3.