Imperio 0 - 1 Santander (392804239)

Clouds darkened the skies at Cementerio de Emperadores as 1207 spectators turned up for the match. Erik Engberg was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Andreas Gunnarsson and Armin Jahnick. A 4-3-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Imperio. Lineup: Papa - Haiducu, 山川 (Yamakawa), Bazvand, Melasniemi - Rotheerde, Thanh Lam, Reizer - Ingimundarson, Peco, Richer.

Santander decided to use a 4-3-3 set up. The following players took the field: Asperelo - Torrealba, Santander, Randolph, Conill - Lindegger, Ricci, Mejías Ruiz - Fernández Chicharro, Castellano, Cohen.

Pressing was the tactic of the day for Imperio. Santander's A. Conill refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 14 minutes. 16 minutes in, Imperio appeared unsure on how to play and their organisation was only passable. Santander's G. Randolph left the field after 28 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was P. Radzicki. The pressing tactics used by Imperio were successful as the ball remained close to the half way line at all times. Imperio's P. Bazvand tried to break through in the middle repeatedly, but couldn't get past the visitors' defenders. Z. Peco of Imperio received a yellow card after 36 minutes for unsportsmanlike behaviour. 42 minutes into the game, Imperio seemed a little tentative in their play as their organization fell to inadequate. Santander's G. Ricci gave the visitors a 0 - 1 lead after 43 minutes with a superb strike from the right. Halftime score was 0 - 1. Santander claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 53 percent.

A review of the gameplan helped Imperio get back to a solid organisation when the referee blew his whistle again. With 60 minutes played, A. Fernández Chicharro nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through in the middle and fired from just outside the box, but his shot passed just over the bar. Imperio's C. Haiducu made a successful breakthrough on the left after 63 minutes and should have levelled the score, but instead he clipped it over the bar. M. Richer of Imperio was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. 66 minutes into the game, Imperio had difficulty finding their positions and their organisation dropped to inadequate. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, A. Fernández Chicharro got himself booked. The manager of Santander was not happy. Imperio's M. Rotheerde had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 79 minutes having been played. G. Bjerrum was the replacement. Imperio needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 80 minutes E. Melasniemi made way for W. Orlikowski. After 80 minutes, Imperio switched Á. Ingimundarson with M. Csiffáry, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. With their counter attack move halted 89 minutes into the game, Imperio were left with a free kick. The ball is passed straight through to the other end of the penalty area, with hopes for it to reach 一. 山川 (Yamakawa). However, he didn't have his wits about him and the ball went out. Santander enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 56 percent of possession.

Imperio's best player was C. Haiducu. A. Papa on the other hand, had a terrible day. T. Cohen performed admirably for Santander. However, J. Torrealba made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 0 - 1.