Azul 3 - 1 Temple (390858529)

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 20000 to El Olímpico Azul. Sergio Beñat was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Mattias Larsson and Urbano Angeloni. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Azul. The following players had been chosen: Salgado Santos - Claesson, Smith, Skjødt - Peña, Bonivento, Frank, Ayaz, Zarra - Torta, Homs.

Temple started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. Starters: Sonne - Bravo, van Thijn, Chicarro, Chetvergov - Leevike, Barda, Trimboli, Aasen - Gravito, Telka.

Temple showed off their creative tactics. Temple's S. Trimboli got himself booked for a foul. They were singing the praises of E. Torta 18 minutes into the match after his speculative chip from the middle of the penalty box found its way over the visitors' keeper to make the score 1 - 0 to Azul. A great save by keeper J. Sonne after 19 minutes kept the visitors in the game after F. Ayaz struck from the left with a real cannonball. S. Skjødt got left behind when Temple's C. Telka made a sudden run forward after 20 minutes, finishing off with a neat strike. 1 - 1! It was 1 - 1 at the break. Azul claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 59 percent.

As the 52 minute mark approached, the Temple coach decided it was time for a substitution. M. Aasen reluctantly made way for C. Farnstieg on the pitch. The referee signaled a penalty for the home side after 56 minutes, amid vocal protests from the visitors. Azul fans erupted in celebration as F. Ayaz rifled the ball into the the top corner. 2 - 1! Temple were close to putting the equaliser away after 57 minutes as the opposing defence lost control of the ball to C. Farnstieg in a scuffle towards the left of the goal, but in the end the ball was cleared over the dead ball line. After 63 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and J. Zarra gave the Azul supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 3 - 1. Temple's right side looked dangerous after 69 minutes, as C. Telka broke through. S. Salgado Santos continued to stifle them, however, as he made the save look easy. 76 minutes in, Azul's M. Smith received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Temple were forced into a substitution as J. Sonne couldn't continue due to some rough treatment, forcing E. Nanio to come in off the bench. Possession in this half belonged to Azul, who controlled the ball 61 percent of the time.

The most dominating Azul player was without a doubt R. Frank. D. Claesson was a disappointment, however. Temple's best player was H. Gravito. On the other hand, E. Nanio's play was disheartening. The match ends 3 - 1.