Kaiserslauter 3 - 2 ASA (391554324)

It had rained all day, but 28487 hardy fans still made it out to Kaiser Arena. Peter Moser was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Andreas Åkesson and Pavel Lokaj. Kaiserslauter decided to use a 2-5-3 set up. Lineup: Ameriks - Abrach, Vock - Akbaran, Luirink, Fanesi, Zambonelli, Gaalman - Maridet, Linhart, Liszewski.

ASA had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Starters: Söderman - Rubini, Geréb, Dala - Kjeldahl, Freitas, Cantón-Salazar, Caín, Romero - Boivineau, Dällenbach.

The home side put themselves ahead 1 - 0 after 10 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from J. Zambonelli, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing. Coming through the middle A. Romero almost scored the equaliser for ASA after 15 minutes, but Ģ. Ameriks made an excellent save, tipping the awkwardly curled shot past the post. The referee was not popular with the home supporters after he awarded ASA a controversial penalty after 16 minutes. K. Kjeldahl made no mistake, levelling the score at 1 - 1. Kaiserslauter had a chance to take the lead after M. Abrach's dazzling drive up the left, but the opportunity fizzled out as his shot went just over the bar after 20 minutes. 1 - 1 was the halftime score. ASA claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 51 percent.

After 49 minutes, M. Maridet came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 2 - 1, giving Kaiserslauter the lead. E. Luirink fired a shot from distance after 56 minutes, but the long shot couldn't find the net for Kaiserslauter. Some brilliant football from the visitors' right wing resulted in a levelling of the score as ASA's H. Freitas put the ball in the onion bag after 67 minutes to make it 2 - 2. They were singing the praises of O. Akbaran 68 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 3 - 2 to Kaiserslauter. C. Dala made a run for the goal 70 minutes into the game but the home team's left back managed to sort the situation out in the end. A. Romero dispatched a majestic long shot 78 minutes into the match, but missed the goal by a few metres. Kaiserslauter's M. Maridet somehow missed a penalty 81 minutes into the match, much to the crowd's displeasure. Possession in this half belonged to ASA, who controlled the ball 51 percent of the time.

The most dominating Kaiserslauter player was without a doubt E. Luirink. However, G. Gaalman made a disastrous appearance. H. Freitas performed admirably for ASA. On the other hand, S. Söderman's play was disheartening. The match ends 3 - 2.