RaptorsUnited 0 - 4 Craiova (392638030)

29425 punters turned up at Stadium of Dreams, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. Georg Bjarmann was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Anker Dabelsteen and Andreas Edler. A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for RaptorsUnited. Lineup: Carrilho - Ardelean, Zawół, Ursuţ, Cavalchi - Machete, Olej, Adomßent, Lodewijckx - Licu, Pătroiu.

Craiova decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. The following players took the field: Vlãdescu - Rujan, Kiriţă, Şimota - Ignat, Szczygieł, Dincă, Miculescu, Ciobotaru - Snay, Popa.

RaptorsUnited decided to play creatively. Craiova mostly relied on their long range shooting ability. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 2 minutes allowed P. Snay to score for Craiova. The scoreboard now read 0 - 1. After 8 minutes Craiova showed some great patience outside the penalty area, waiting until S. Ignat could find the right opportunity to finish off the attack from distance. The long shot, however, was an easy catch for T. Carrilho. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave D. Szczygieł from Craiova a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 29 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! The coach of Craiova was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 36 minutes, A. Balderis came on for N. Popa. B. Ciobotaru wanted to play on, but the Craiova coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 36 minutes into the game by I. Opris. Content with how the game was proceeding, the Craiova coach let C. Durbacã replace B. Şimota after 36 minutes. I. Opris was handed the Craiova captain's armband. C. Miculescu's lack of experience almost gave RaptorsUnited a goal after 39 minutes, but the shot went right into the keeper's arms. It was 0 - 1 at the break. Craiova had most of the ball, with 71 percent of possession.

After 55 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for P. Snay who increased Craiova's lead to 0 - 2. After this, you could see that the players of Craiova were more interested in killing time than scoring more goals. With 72 minutes played, the excellent ball from the wing by Craiova's I. Opris reached P. Snay's head, and he is not one to miss such an opportunity - 0 - 3. That was his third goal of the match - a hat trick for P. Snay. I. Opris sailed high above the opponents as he headed in a corner kick from G. Rujan after 78 minutes of play, making the score 0 - 4. Craiova's slick passing moves completely confused the defence after 79 minutes, but thanks to T. Carrilho's miraculous save from D. Szczygieł's long shot the score remained unchanged. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Craiova, with 69 percent of the ball.

I. Ardelean performed admirably for RaptorsUnited. P. Lodewijckx turned in a dismal performance, however. Craiova's best player was A. Balderis. On the other hand, S. Ignat's play was disheartening. The match ends 0 - 4.