Peshterski 1 - 4 UNITED (392353969)

The crowd of 14698 turning up at strashen st today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Adrian Enache was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Norberto Zico and Erwin Kleiber. Peshterski tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Hamela - Siekierzyński, Leuschner, Kripāns, Glasauer - Gallego, Genev, Gandía, Hollenstedt - Thatcher, Roshan.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for UNITED. Starters: Cambre - da Rocha, Usai, Vasilev - Vučenović, Ferte, Torrekens, Pływaczewski, Pohjonen - Chmyr, Fumagalli.

Peshterski used their ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the pitch, rather than on the wings. UNITED seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. After 12 minutes, UNITED's C. Pływaczewski made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 0 - 1. After 20 minutes, UNITED's R. Chmyr swiftly ran past I. Kripāns and nutmegged the keeper! 0 - 2. The UNITED free kick 22 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But was this actually a plan? The ball landed at the feet of E. Pohjonen, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 0 - 3! At this point, it was obvious that the players of UNITED lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. UNITED were determined to attack in the middle, even their wing attacks ended up centrally. M. Fumagalli 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 Z. Hamela but overcooked it and hit the bar instead. Halftime score was 0 - 3. Possession in this half belonged to UNITED, who controlled the ball 59 percent of the time.

UNITED's R. Chmyr made it through the home team's defence on the right hand side 54 minutes into the match. After rounding the keeper, he only had to place the ball in the unguarded goal when a defender slid in and cleared the ball off the line. M. Fumagalli of UNITED took advantage of a mistake on the home side's right after 57 minutes which increased the away team's lead to 0 - 4. Content with how the game was proceeding, the UNITED coach let G. Komór replace F. Ferte after 60 minutes. The coach of UNITED was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 60 minutes, F. Sterckx came on for E. Torrekens. Peshterski had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks. N. Gandía did everything he could to get one back for his Peshterski, but keeper D. Cambre denied him with a spectacular block. The home crowd were delighted when H. Glasauer scored with a header after an attack from the right, making the score 1 - 4. But did he use his hand? That'll be one for the pundits to talk about after the game, that's for sure! The game was characterised by rough play and many physical challenges on the wet field, but K. Thatcher showed great heart and had a good game. UNITED's M. Fumagalli got himself booked for a foul. Peshterski enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 54 percent of possession.

Peshterski's best player was R. Roshan. On the other hand, K. Siekierzyński's play was disheartening. UNITED's top performer was clearly R. Chmyr. However, G. Komór made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 4.