mayo 0 - 6 Arsenolica (391214242)

12000 spectators arrived at EL 21 AZUL, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Jørn Jegindø was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ronny Naftziger and Martijn Gerbrands. A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for mayo. The following players had been chosen: Perfetti - Pumarino, Echevarriabengoa, Berganza, Lincoman - Sepúlveda, Marcos, Irarrázaval, Guerrero - Elguea, Rozas.

Arsenolica tactics involved an interesting 4-5-1 combination. The following players took the field: Fáix - Gorostiaga, Griffin, Góes, Mora - Größl, Waanders, González, Łozowski, Marazevich - Castillejos.

Arsenolica's J. Góes managed to lose the defenders as he advanced down the right wing and scored, putting the visitors ahead after 5 minutes. 0 - 1. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, J. Pumarino got himself booked. The manager of mayo was not happy. The Arsenolica free kick 14 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But was this actually a plan? The ball landed at the feet of A. Castillejos, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 0 - 2! The home keeper was stunned 28 minutes into the match when he misjudged the free kick by S. Mora and dived in the wrong direction. The visitors increased the lead to 0 - 3. The visitors' R. Marazevich took advantage of a misunderstanding between the home side's goalie and centre backs 37 minutes into the match. 0 - 4 for Arsenolica. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Arsenolica lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. It was 0 - 4 at the break. Arsenolica claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 80 percent.

After 58 minutes, Arsenolica sent a free kick in high over the penalty box. In what looked like a well-rehearsed move, the ball was headed backwards and reached J. Góes, who had plenty of space to place a well aimed shot - 0 - 5. J. Góes was, after 64 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 D. Perfetti made the save. After 65 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave A. Castillejos a chance to increase the lead for Arsenolica, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 0 - 6. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave E. Sepúlveda from mayo a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 72 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! After 74 minutes a well-practised indirect free kick routine by Arsenolica was easily anticipated by the defenders. The players forward were so well marked, they were left with few viable options. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Arsenolica, with 82 percent of the ball.

I. Rozas performed admirably for mayo. F. Echevarriabengoa turned in a dismal performance, however. Arsenolica's best player was R. Marazevich. J. Größl was a disappointment, however. The match ends 0 - 6.