Universita 3 - 0 HATTRICK (392101025)

Due to an all-day shower, 40430 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at MONUMENTAL. Edouard Grellinger was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Luciano Panuccio and Hicham Ferdjane. Universita started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Carmona - Wojciak, Vanderslagmolen, Haldern - Saldívar, Bán, Lyngby, Bo, Curiñaupa - Nesi, Dettenhausen.

HATTRICK decided to use a 5-3-2 set up. The following players took the field: Angeria - Áibar Marca, Zubieta, Huayta, Coripuna, Huerta - Jacobsson, Philipsborn, Ohrel - Larson, Maugendre.

Universita took a creative approach on the field. Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of HATTRICK. The celebrations in the stands could only mean one thing - M. Nesi's free kick had found the back of the net and put Universita ahead 1 - 0! HATTRICK's defence sent a ball soaring up the middle on a beautiful counterattack with 10 minutes gone, but L. Larson's finish was met by the reaching hands of the keeper. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, HATTRICK's M. Áibar Marca was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 35 minutes. F. Arriola was given a chance to change things around. With 35 minutes played, the HATTRICK coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around. A. Vinzoli came on, G. Huerta had to leave the fray. S. Ohrel was struggling to make the ball dance with his usual trickery and panache, and the opposing players had little trouble shutting him down in these muddy conditions. Halftime score was 1 - 0. Universita claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 56 percent.

After 50 minutes, HATTRICK switched P. Jacobsson with K. Mcmillan, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. The visitors' equaliser seemed sure to come after 53 minutes, following a one on one situation around the left hand side of the goal area, but L. Carmona got the best of it, blocking the shot from L. Larson. H. Curiñaupa slipped and slithered in the wet grass. His usual rapid runs were nowhere to be seen today. A counterattack by HATTRICK after 66 minutes could have resulted in a goal, but A. Vinzoli, coming in on the left, couldn't get the shot off. Universita will have to do without H. Haldern for a time, due to a bad foot injury at the 75 minute mark. He was substituted by C. Barksdale. The corner kick from M. Nesi was powerfully met by the head of S. Lyngby to make the score 2 - 0. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Universita lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. After 81 minutes Universita's M. Vanderslagmolen limped slightly after a late challenge, but he was able to continue. Things were deteriorating for the away team as Universita scored another to make it 3 - 0 after a left side attack resulted in a goal for C. Barksdale after 84 minutes. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave D. Wojciak from Universita a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 85 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Universita, with 53 percent of the ball.

L. Carmona performed admirably for Universita. A. Saldívar turned in a dismal performance, however. HATTRICK's top performer was clearly L. Larson. On the other hand, P. Coripuna's play was disheartening. The match ends 3 - 0.