ozkaynak 1 - 2 Wildcats (392025406)

Dark skies made the crowd of 59141 at Ali Sami Yen a little nervous, but the rain held off. Markus Balleis was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Erkki Forssell and Agustín Baena. ozkaynak started off with a 4-5-1 lineup. Starters: Noweta - Guignard, Hallas, Galanda, Luchetti - Russell, Ainsoo, Puglisi, Creemers, Bosmans - Acebeiro.

Wildcats tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. Lineup: Easley - Hauge, Boelens, Breeden, Baxter - Canche, Shelleau, Trickle, Poe - Varela, Meriweather.

ozkaynak were mostly trying to use their skill at attacking on the flanks. Wildcats clearly had decided to counter-attack when they could. Wildcats's counterattacks created a good chance for J. Varela on the right after 6 minutes, but he could only look on with dismay as his strike rebounded off the crossbar. 12 minutes in, ozkaynak's U. Luchetti received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. A loud groan was heard from the fans of Wildcats, as S. Poe left the pitch in too much pain to finish the match. R. Lackey took his place on the field. 14 minutes into the match, the speedy J. Varela easily outpaced E. Hallas, chipped the keeper and made the score 0 - 1. ozkaynak tried to even things up by sending a long ball towards the centrally placed strikers, but the visitors' defence got the best of this rather direct style of play. In a rapid move 22 minutes into the match, J. Varela of Wildcats lost his man and passed the ball to the unmarked K. Meriweather who easily hit it home to make it 0 - 2. Luckily the ref didn't see him taunting the opposing fans in celebration - naughty boy! Wildcats's D. Boelens was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 26 minutes. After 42 minutes Wildcats tried to exploit their counterattacking skills, unfortunately, K. Meriweather's shot sailed wide after his break down the right. It was 0 - 2 at the break. ozkaynak claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 61 percent.

It took several tries, but ozkaynak managed to break through on the left after 47 minutes, getting the ball to E. Hallas who easily reduced the lead to make the score 1 - 2. On any other day, L. Puglisi's free kick would have found the back of the net to tie the game for ozkaynak, but not today - the visitors' keeper displayed extraordinary reflexes as he blocked the shot harmlessly to the side. ozkaynak were close to equalising with a spectacular free kick by L. Puglisi after 60 minutes, but S. Easley made a great save, tipping it to a corner. The ozkaynak players listened closely to their manager, as he gave new tactical instructions for the team. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, ozkaynak's L. Galanda was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 79 minutes. M. Oteiza was given a chance to change things around. ozkaynak enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 60 percent of possession.

Most important ozkaynak player was M. Bosmans. E. Hallas turned in a dismal performance, however. Wildcats's best player was K. Meriweather. R. Lackey on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 1 - 2.