Khazad-dûm 1 - 2 Staatsliedenbuurt (390243400)

Clear skies welcomed the 40824 spectators who had made their way to Mount Doom. Aaron Mattys was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Nicolae Florea and Eero Reijonen. Khazad-dûm started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players took the field: van Muiswinkel - Muntinga, Bergeon, Özcan - Caldara, Hommes, Seipuls, Schurink, Nesta - Zacharidis, Matos.

Staatsliedenbuurt tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. They fielded: Meyles - van Haasteren, Busser, Klinkenberg - Baart, van der Woerd, Caris, Zuurman, Vullinghs - Boerrigter, Acay.

Today, Staatsliedenbuurt's strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. After 12 minutes, the visitors nearly went up a goal, but R. Boerrigter's free kick hit the crossbar. Khazad-dûm's A. Matos tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but couldn't get past the visitors' defenders. With 16 minutes played, the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending. N. Caris put the ball away for 0 - 1. It was 0 - 1 at the break. Staatsliedenbuurt claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 58 percent.

A. Matos was just a finger's breadth away from an equaliser for Khazad-dûm with a strike from the left, but R. Meyles managed to ward the shot off for a corner. Staatsliedenbuurt's G. Vullinghs had seen it all before, so he waited patiently for the right opportunity. He would get no better chance than the one he took, but his shot was deftly blocked by the keeper. The Khazad-dûm players listened closely to their manager, as he gave new tactical instructions for the team. R. Boerrigter was, after 67 minutes, almost able to extend the visitors' lead with a well placed diving header after the ball had looped into the centre, but the home side's keeper J. van Muiswinkel made the save. With 71 minutes having been played, Khazad-dûm scored to make it 1 - 1. A dribble down the left wing, followed by a shot which took a wicked bounce off a defender resulted in the keeper having no chance. Everyone thought it'd been an own goal, but D. Zacharidis was marked down as the scorer. After 76 minutes, the Khazad-dûm coach had a quick word about the tactical set-up and decided to try another approach. Some quick footwork on the left side of the field 77 minutes into the match left Staatsliedenbuurt's F. Acay completely free to score. 1 - 2 for the visitors. Possession in this half belonged to Staatsliedenbuurt, who controlled the ball 61 percent of the time.

The most dominating Khazad-dûm player was without a doubt R. Muntinga. On the other hand, J. Hommes's play was disheartening. I. van der Woerd performed admirably for Staatsliedenbuurt. R. Meyles was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 2.