DESPECHE 1 - 2 Blaster (390883218)

A brilliantly sunny day had enticed a crowd of 37096 to DESPECHE MODE BOMBONERA. Eelse Broeders was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ken Oblak and Franz Varga. DESPECHE started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Menga - Delvaux, Marchal, Karić - Avintes, Dobrinski, Karavidas, Ago, Lentschnik - Houa, De Laet.

Blaster tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. Lineup: Liberatori - Pochettino, Zanier, Alesso, Jandera - Bevz, Sinisaari, Sabaté, Tieber - Platengold, Palma.

DESPECHE saw most attack opportunities on the wings. Using their counter-attacking abilities was the strategy of choice for Blaster. DESPECHE's C. Houa showed off his trademark ability to do the unexpected with a tricky pass after 4 minutes. Unfortunately, H. Avintes was startled by the play and wasn't able to control the finish. DESPECHE's F. De Laet placed the ball right at his teammate's feet after a corner, but I. Karavidas couldn't finish. O. Karić was very close to giving DESPECHE the lead with an ingenious free kick routine 25 minutes into the match, but the ball just grazed the bar. I. Palma knocked one home from a counterattack down the right wing, making the score 0 - 1 after 26 minutes. With 33 minutes played, DESPECHE's O. Karić found an opening in the visitors' left side defence, but his shot was handled easily by the keeper. 34 minutes into the game a free kick by E. Alesso found its way through the home side's poorly assembled defensive formation, making Blaster's lead 0 - 2. The players of Blaster now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, M. Platengold got himself booked. The manager of Blaster was not happy. The teams went for the halftime break at 0 - 2. DESPECHE enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 65 percent of possession.

At 47 minutes into the game, DESPECHE's F. De Laet deftly knocked the ball home after an impressive run down the left, reducing the visitors' lead to 1 - 2. Blaster's E. Alesso left the field after 72 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was H. Di Bernardo. DESPECHE had most of the ball, with 67 percent of possession.

C. Houa performed admirably for DESPECHE. Z. Menga was a disappointment, however. Blaster's top performer was clearly L. Pochettino. H. Di Bernardo on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 2.