zero7 5 - 0 rotto (392770290)

1455 spectators had found their way to Platin Arena, despite the heavy rain. Shuai Hua was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Torben Rump and Steve Bucknall. zero7 had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. They fielded: Nummelin - Lambardi, Montilla, Kövér - Mirto Randazzo, Sedlić, Gaster, Kunić, Ledoux - Skogholt, Aalja.

rotto decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. Lineup: Moseticz - Pizzolante, Ståhlström, Ballarin, Grop - Ardoino, Nateri, Banelli, Ninni - Bulzomi, Timpanaro.

zero7 tried to focus their attacks down the middle. Pressing was the tactic of the day for rotto. Central attacks were the recipe of the day for zero7, as they moved the ball from the wings to the middle with startling regularity. They were singing the praises of T. Sedlić 3 minutes into the match after his speculative chip from the middle of the penalty box found its way over the visitors' keeper to make the score 1 - 0 to zero7. Unfortunately for rotto, A. Timpanaro suffered a concussion after 4 minutes and had to be taken for tests. The coach had his head in his hands after realising he could not send a replacement onto the pitch, and the team had to continue a man short. S. Ledoux 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. A cross coming in on the right hand side left M. Ninni alone in front of the goal after 10 minutes but his shot was woeful. zero7's L. Gaster increased the lead to 2 - 0, after he saw his shot go between the legs of the advancing goalkeeper following some good play down the right wing after 18 minutes. 19 minutes in, zero7's M. Skogholt received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. After 31 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and T. Sedlić gave the zero7 supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 3 - 0. It was 3 - 0 at the break. zero7 had most of the ball, with 60 percent of possession.

Content with how the game was proceeding, the zero7 coach let A. Riley replace R. Aalja after 46 minutes. V. Lambardi should probably have put his team up another goal after 52 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by W. Moseticz kept the visitors in the game. S. Ledoux left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 54 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. J. Nion was the replacement. 71 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as M. Skogholt broke through, making the score 4 - 0 for zero7. At this point, it was obvious that the players of zero7 lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. After 72 minutes, zero7 were awarded a free kick. Rather than shooting straight at goal, the taker went for an indirect variant which seemed to take his team mates a bit by surprise. L. Mirto Randazzo did attempt a finish, but from an awkward position, sending the ball into the away fans. zero7's B. Kövér was shown a yellow card after 81 minutes for slicing down an opponent. With 86 minutes played, zero7 put themselves up 5 - 0 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to M. Skogholt, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by zero7, with 66 percent of the ball.

zero7's best player was L. Gaster. On the other hand, J. Nion's play was disheartening. The most dominating rotto player was without a doubt G. Nateri. D. Ståhlström turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 5 - 0.