Hoboken 1 - 4 Fire (392023598)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and Mile Square Arena saw a crowd turnout of 64339. Alberto de Deus was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Andi Schleiss and Elias Querin. Hoboken tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. Starters: Campoo - Galvan, Haemmerle, Gervasio, Nazarenko - Apostolov, Lobinho, Nolen, Maine Sáenz - Uttiger, Aponte.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Fire. The following players took the field: Hermenegildo - Steinlechner, Convertino, Achternhof - Rothschild, Świrk, Cummings, Pytlewicz, Sıyrılmış - Volovski, Podda.

For their match strategy, Hoboken had decided to use their ability to counter-attack whenever possible. With 7 minutes played K. Lobinho almost put the home team one ahead on a cross coming in from the right, but the shot went just wide. 12 minutes in, Hoboken's K. Nazarenko received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Unfortunately for Fire, E. Volovski was injured when the game became more physical, and he had to leave the field. A. Chocontá replaced him. F. Podda became the new Fire captain. B. Steinlechner of Fire seemed to be floating in the air as he elegantly headed in to make the score 0 - 1 after a corner kick that was nicely executed by O. Achternhof. F. Podda of Fire was able to make an impressive rush past the sluggish G. Gervasio, which resulted in a goal making the score 0 - 2. The home crowd cheered when, after 23 minutes, F. Podda's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. Hoboken almost scored after a swift counterattack 24 minutes into the game, but F. Nolen put the shot from the left flank just outside the goal. Hoboken's K. Lobinho startled R. Aponte with an unexpected pass. Unfortunately, the receiver was too stunned by the play to convert the perfect setup into a goal. Hoboken's K. Nazarenko had the ball at his feet in front of goal after a quickly taken free kick after 27 minutes, but was robbed of it in the blink of an eye by an onrushing defender. The referee signalled a penalty 33 minutes into the game following an offence which looked like it was outside the box. O. Achternhof knocked it home to make the score 0 - 3. 0 - 3 was the halftime score. Possession in this half belonged to Fire, who controlled the ball 55 percent of the time.

A. Chocontá came close to extending the visitors' lead when he found himself completely unmarked in front of the goal after a pass through the middle. He tried to lift the ball over D. Campoo but overcooked it and hit the bar instead. Hoboken's A. Apostolov cut towards the middle after 63 minutes, receiving a brilliant pass and slicing through the visiting team's central defence, reducing the lead to 1 - 3. P. Świrk was, after 71 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. Campoo made the save. B. Steinlechner received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 74 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 1 - 4. The Fire fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. By now, the players in Fire felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. A. Apostolov of Hoboken received a yellow card after 83 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. Fire claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 57 percent.

Hoboken's top performer was clearly K. Lobinho. G. Gervasio turned in a dismal performance, however. Most important Fire player was F. Podda. A. Chocontá on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 4.