20859 spectators had come to San Gally's place this cloudy day. Sergio Vandercruyssen was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Juan Carlos Aguirre De Cárcer and Gustaw Grzegorek. A 5-3-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Palace. Starters: Opdam - Hoekstra, Mijnheer, Moubaraki, Busing, Ruigrok - Tabak, Allaert, Verlaat - Roett, Snooijink.

Savadeli had chosen a strategic 5-3-2 formation. The following players had been chosen: van de Westelaken - Snouck, Mullens, Broekhof, van Mierlo, Giling - Adelaar, Wellinga, van Scheltema - Heys, Cox.

It was an obvious ambition of Savadeli to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. 6 minutes of the match played, and a comedy of errors by the home side gave the visitors a chance at the lead, but S. Mullens, after finding himself dashing down on goal from the left with only the keeper to beat, sliced his shot horribly wide. V. Ruigrok received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly 16 minutes into the match, probably out of lack of experience, and almost let an opponent score. T. Hassert was called on to replace Savadeli's S. Mullens after 20 minutes following a nasty collision. The home side put themselves ahead 1 - 0 after 27 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from W. Allaert, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing. A spectacular volley from R. van Scheltema almost resulted in a goal, but a good save from the keeper kept it out, and M. Cox could only knock the loose ball wide. The crowd was silenced 29 minutes into the match as the visiting team's R. Wellinga came in from the left, levelling the score to 1 - 1. Savadeli had a good opportunity to attack in the middle, but remembered their instructions to focus on wing attacks instead. The guests took the lead 35 minutes into the match, after a right-side attack resulted in A. Heys scoring to make it 1 - 2. Halftime score was 1 - 2. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Savadeli, with 68 percent of the ball.

After 47 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave M. Cox a chance to increase the lead for Savadeli, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 1 - 3. A defender managed to keep the ball from crossing the goal-line after a curling shot coming in from the right from A. Snouck after 62 minutes, and prevented Savadeli from going up another goal. Having been awarded a free kick in an awkward position after 64 minutes, Savadeli did not go for a shot but instead fired the ball hard into the 6 yard box. After a brief tussle with his marker, L. Giling was able to power the ball past the keeper to make the score 1 - 4. After 66 minutes a well-practised indirect free kick routine by Savadeli was easily anticipated by the defenders. The players forward were so well marked, they were left with few viable options. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave S. Broekhof from Savadeli a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 78 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Savadeli claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 67 percent.

Palace's best player was B. Opdam. V. Ruigrok turned in a dismal performance, however. R. van Scheltema performed admirably for Savadeli. However, S. Broekhof made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 4.