Tribu 2 - 1 Azul (390858519)

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 28114 to El Cementerio del Sur. Booker Turpin was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Juhani Mård and Omar Cunha Frias. Everyone was excited about the upcoming Ciudad de Buenos Aires derby and the crowd was divided evenly. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Tribu. Lineup: Castiça - Sardone, Tamstani, Kočović - Gysels, Hautamäki, Gheorghe, Rognoli, Schreiber - Murschall, Gustavsson.

Azul decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. They fielded: Salgado Santos - Senseig, Smith, Skjødt - Jaber, Ribilla, Frank, Ayaz, Zarra - Stuffer, Homs.

The wings were the focus of most of Tribu's attacks today. 2 minutes into the game, F. Ayaz almost gave the visitors the lead, as he clipped a delicate lob over the keeper, but the ball glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. 5 minutes into the game, L. Rognoli had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came H. Zubeldía. Azul had several good opportunities to take the lead, especially 6 minutes in when J. Zarra came up alone against J. Castiça who managed a block. J. Hautamäki gave Tribu the lead with a beautiful free kick after 11 minutes. 1 - 0! The visitors almost came back with an equaliser 32 minutes into the match after a good combination down the middle, but when A. Ribilla tried to finish the attack, he couldn't deliver the shot hard enough to seriously challenge the keeper. Tribu's defence sent a ball soaring up the middle on a beautiful counterattack with 33 minutes gone, but C. Gustavsson's finish was met by the reaching hands of the keeper. It was 1 - 0 at the break. Azul enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 58 percent of possession.

B. Stuffer made a run for the goal 52 minutes into the game but the home team's left back managed to sort the situation out in the end. The home crowd was dismayed when the referee called a penalty for Azul after 54 minutes. F. Ayaz calmly took the shot and scored. The game was level at 1 - 1. After 68 minutes, S. Gheorghe came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 2 - 1, giving Tribu the lead. Azul claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 55 percent.

The most dominating Tribu player was without a doubt J. Hautamäki. However, J. Castiça made a disastrous appearance. Most important Azul player was R. Frank. K. Jaber was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 1.