BUCURESTI 0 - 3 Pheonix (392400099)

Due to an all-day shower, 15854 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at STEFAN CEL MARE. Albert Coburn was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Allesandro Bertens and Jens Peter Spur. The derby had been the talk of Bucureşti all week and fans of both teams could be seen throughout the stadium. A 3-4-3 alignment was the formation of choice for BUCURESTI. The following players had been chosen: Vicente Fernández - Porlier, Tanque, Mueller - Guetzliwiler, Groenland, Quezada, Hirylovich - Zerhouni, Corbett, Gogoaşă.

Pheonix started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Novaro - Bottard, Gnatenko, Bijleveld - Gâscă, Ignat, Sáenz, Ionescu, Napolitano - Paindavoine, Burlacu.

Pressing was the tactic of the day for BUCURESTI. It was an obvious ambition of Pheonix to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. Pheonix's K. Bijleveld managed to lose the defenders as he advanced down the right wing and scored, putting the visitors ahead after 16 minutes. 0 - 1. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, M. Hirylovich got himself booked. The manager of BUCURESTI was not happy. M. Malaise was called on to replace BUCURESTI's J. Vicente Fernández after 21 minutes following a nasty collision. The home crowd was not impressed when P. Burlacu came in from the right, shooting hard to score after 22 minutes. Pheonix were now up 0 - 2. By now, the players in Pheonix felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. Pheonix's V. Ignat was shown a yellow card after 23 minutes for slicing down an opponent. M. Hirylovich knew he was in trouble after hacking down an opponent. Despite his pleading with the referee, the BUCURESTI player was shown a second yellow card and dismissed from the game. L. Mueller 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. Attacking on the wings was the choice for Pheonix, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. A drive down the left side allowed D. Ionescu to get in close and score another goal for Pheonix after 37 minutes, taking the score to 0 - 3. Halftime score was 0 - 3. Pheonix had most of the ball, with 68 percent of possession.

F. Novaro wanted to play on, but the Pheonix coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 46 minutes into the game by U. Hyquist. A. Sáenz left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 46 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. B. Bala was the replacement. D. Ionescu became the new Pheonix captain. After 46 minutes, the Pheonix players received new instructions from their manager on how to keep in control of the game. The bench was restless, and with 46 minutes passed BUCURESTI's coach gave S. Lobatón the opportunity the player had been hoping for. A. Gogoaşă reluctantly left the field. At this time in the match, BUCURESTI were using their skill at pressing to successfully stifle the game. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, BUCURESTI's M. Zerhouni was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 62 minutes. C. Bondar was given a chance to change things around. Had it not been for one of the home defenders, P. Burlacu would have put Pheonix up another goal 62 minutes into the match with his audacious lob from the right wing. BUCURESTI's S. Corbett was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 63 minutes. C. Bottard could have put his team up another goal 69 minutes into the game, after a rush down the left, but his closing shot hit the post. The referee showed BUCURESTI's R. Quezada the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. After 71 minutes, J. Groenland had a good opportunity to reduce the scoreline for BUCURESTI with a chance created through the middle, but wasn't cool enough. The ball went miles over the bar. The visitors nearly scored again after 72 minutes, but a superb save by M. Malaise kept K. Bijleveld's free kick out of the net. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Pheonix, with 69 percent of the ball.

BUCURESTI's best player was S. Lobatón. M. Malaise on the other hand, had a terrible day. Most important Pheonix player was P. Burlacu. However, K. Bijleveld made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 0 - 3.