sprofc 1 - 1 Sifts (391460903)

Clouds darkened the skies at soccer pro stadium as 33281 spectators turned up for the match. Stig Edland was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Asser Brandtberg and Léon Kocher. People from all over Cartago had joined up for the derby. sprofc had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Ulutürk - Schampers, Jarc, Suutari - Tamerus, Deckers, Gusmão, Fleurbaey, Strandberg - Alvárez, Engelmayer.

Sifts decided to use a 4-5-1 set up. Lineup: Navarro - Hallfeldt, Widerlius, Renping, Hammer - Budnik, Tutuach, Talassaari, Toro Coronado, van der Zijde - Fishov.

Sifts were mostly trying to use their skill at attacking on the flanks. The home crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief when V. van der Zijde was unable to put the ball in the net after his show of skill down the left 40 minutes into the match. He was seen beating the pitch in frustration at missing such a good chance to give his team the lead! Some great play up the middle by sprofc led to a chance for J. Alvárez to score after 42 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. 0 - 1 was the score with 43 minutes played, after F. Renping cut through the central defence and chipped home a goal for Sifts. The referee showed Sifts's J. Talassaari the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Halftime score was 0 - 1. sprofc enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 54 percent of possession.

Y. Budnik wanted to play on, but the Sifts coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 46 minutes into the game by N. Bar. Just a few inches to the right, and the visitors could have had a goal 49 minutes into the match. J. Toro Coronado surely wishes he could do that free kick over again. The bench was restless, and with 70 minutes passed sprofc's coach gave A. Pedrosa the opportunity the player had been hoping for. P. Strandberg reluctantly left the field. 70 minutes in, Sifts's H. Widerlius received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. sprofc's R. Tamerus put his head to a well placed ball, lifted in from the left, and scored to make the score 1 - 1 with 82 minutes showing on the scoreboard clock. There was concern in the stands when, at the 83 minute mark, sprofc's M. Engelmayer hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. sprofc had a good opportunity to take the lead as M. Engelmayer came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into the arms of S. Navarro. Unsportsmanlike behaviour by J. Talassaari rendered him his second booking of the match, and Sifts had to finish the game with a reduced squad. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by sprofc, with 63 percent of the ball.

The most dominating sprofc player was without a doubt J. Alvárez. A. Pedrosa was a disappointment, however. Sifts's best player was N. Fishov. N. Bar turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 1 - 1.