Foot 1 - 2 Gladiatori (392601170)

The 20501 spectators at Big Arena were in for an afternoon of sunshine. Marius Karr was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Tero Kilpiäinen and Saleh Hassan. Foot decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. They fielded: Kutner - Michie, Kieffer, Mosteller - Rubele, Hagflod, Werdersee, Iancu, Mohaupt - Pinnella, Ramero.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Gladiatori. Starters: Arth - Galicia, Shik, Holzhüter - Astra, Kokki, Dobra, Antonić, Velyuga - Mandolesi, van Starkenborg.

Foot seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. The wings were the focus of most of Gladiatori's attacks today. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave S. Iancu from Foot a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 21 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! After 24 minutes, R. van Starkenborg sent the corner kick right to E. Mandolesi who headed it sharply past the keeper. 0 - 1! With 31 minutes played, Foot's M. Pinnella found an opening in the visitors' left side defence, but his shot was handled easily by the keeper. Foot's B. Werdersee got himself booked for a foul. 0 - 1 was the score after the first half. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Foot, with 58 percent of the ball.

Foot put pressure on the visitors' central defence 63 minutes into the game, but N. Hagflod couldn't find an opening. The referee showed Foot's T. Mohaupt the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The sun seemed to put M. Pinnella in a great mood, and he showed off his technical skills all match long. After 78 minutes, an incisive pass through the middle gave F. Velyuga a chance to increase the lead for Gladiatori, and he did not disappoint. The score was then 0 - 2. H. Astra wanted to play on, but the Gladiatori coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 80 minutes into the game by G. Antelo. Foot's fans were urging them forward as they tried to get back into the game, and their vocal support was rewarded 87 minutes into the match as T. Mohaupt ran onto a beautiful ball played through the visitors' defence and slotted it past the keeper to reduce the deficit. 1 - 2. Foot had most of the ball, with 59 percent of possession.

Foot's best player was M. Pinnella. F. Ramero on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Gladiatori player was without a doubt E. Mandolesi. However, G. Antelo made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 2.