Santos 2 - 1 Paisitas (391884853)

Due to an all-day shower, 40659 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at Monumental Santos. Leonardo Bissola was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Aleksi Ahonen and Bendik Jenssen. Santos had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. The following players took the field: Alford - Palacios, Lander, Bravo, Ionescu - Gil, Straßenfeld, Papoutselis, Davidson, Iranzo - Jääskeläinen.

Paisitas decided to use a 2-5-3 set up. Lineup: Michel - Kjeldsen, Velásquez - Muşat, Launonen, Holden, Molina, Radin - Le Quellec, Muñoz, Dáscola.

J. Palacios sailed high above the opponents as he headed in a corner kick from F. Lander after 31 minutes of play, making the score 1 - 0. 33 minutes in, Paisitas's D. Muşat received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. 36 minutes into the game, M. Muñoz had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came G. Rubes. 1 - 0 was the halftime score. Santos had most of the ball, with 52 percent of possession.

With things not going too well on the field, the Paisitas coach made the decision to swap the positions of D. Muşat and L. Radin with 50 minutes played. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Paisitas's L. Radin was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 50 minutes. S. Jantschik was given a chance to change things around. Unhappy with the result so far in the game, the Paisitas manager used a brief break in play after 50 minutes to give the players new directives. It was a bad day for the usually speedy E. Iranzo. The mud seemed to slow him down. In the lead, Santos adjusted their style of play with 60 minutes gone. Paisitas levelled the score after 73 minutes to make it 1 - 1, as V. Launonen struck home after a fine midfield combination through the centre, which left him completely unmarked. Santos broke through on the left 75 minutes into the game, with E. Iranzo firing in from an acute angle to give the home side a 2 - 1 lead. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave O. Straßenfeld from Santos a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 76 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! The player down was F. Velásquez. The Paisitas bench looked worried for a while, but in the end he managed to get up. E. Iranzo's speed was almost enough to give Santos a goal after 78 minutes, but his nice pass to V. Jääskeläinen was not taken care of properly. The Santos players could smell victory in the air. V. Jääskeläinen wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for U. Hasselfeldt after 80 minutes. With the clock showing 84 minutes played, a great pass from the defensive line of Paisitas resulted in a counterattack that was smoothly brought under control by J. Le Quellec in the centre of the opposition's penalty area, but his finish went high. Santos enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 53 percent of possession.

Santos's top performer was clearly G. Papoutselis. U. Hasselfeldt was a disappointment, however. J. Le Quellec performed admirably for Paisitas. On the other hand, F. Velásquez's play was disheartening. The match ends 2 - 1.