Bahnani 4 - 5 Kanonbluss (392860539)

The 47168 spectators at Hinriken Olympic Arena were in for an afternoon of sunshine. Jesper Brix was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Artur Ruciński and Riccardo Barbiroli. Bahnani had chosen a strategic 2-5-3 formation. The following players had been chosen: Laptiacru - Styk, Guadalajara - Cottet, Fontaneda, Soofizadeh, Sommavilla, Zárybnický - Drăguş, Rodner, Wünsche.

Kanonbluss started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. Lineup: Maccalli - Malvik, Aventura, De Pelseneer - Aytar, Pajer, Sejersbøl, Tardío, Walker - Claassen, bin Emoi.

Today, Bahnani's strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. After 18 minutes, Bahnani raised their score by one when P. Cottet's dangerous low cross was cleverly tucked in at the near post by P. Drăguş. 1 - 0. Bahnani had a good opportunity to attack in the middle, but remembered their instructions to focus on wing attacks instead. Bahnani's A. Fontaneda 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 27 minutes. A bit later, Kanonbluss's J. Tardío easily reduced the lead to 2 - 1 after a misunderstanding in the home side's central defence. J. Walker finished off a quick charge from the left of the field by chipping the ball just past the home side's keeper, making the score 2 - 2 42 minutes into the match. Halftime score was 2 - 2. Bahnani claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 52 percent.

Attacking on the wings was the choice for Bahnani, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. Bahnani had a good opportunity to take the lead as M. Rodner came up the left side, but he struck the ball weakly and it went straight into the arms of E. Maccalli. It was obvious that Bahnani had instructions to attack on the wings instead of in the middle. After 58 minutes of play, J. Guadalajara gave the home team a 3 - 2 lead after an attack coming in from the right. The sun seemed to put J. Guadalajara in a great mood, and he showed off his technical skills all match long. With 60 minutes played, Bahnani's well-worked indirect free kick caused havoc in the penalty area, and when the ball eventually fell to O. Styk he gleefully slotted the ball home to make it 4 - 2. Bahnani's J. Zárybnický had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 66 minutes having been played. I. Musiałowski was the replacement. The Bahnani players could smell victory in the air. P. Drăguş wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for E. Grigorov after 75 minutes. J. Walker was first to reach a ball launched long through the center from Kanonbluss's defence 75 minutes into the game. He managed to keep his cool and beat the goalkeeper to make the score 4 - 3. The sunny day didn't make things easy for J. Sejersbøl who didn't seem his usual powerful self on the pitch. Undaunted, Kanonbluss managed to tie it all up after 77 minutes, with R. Pajer's lucky free kick. The score was 4 - 4. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Bahnani, with 52 percent of the ball.

As neither team had managed to win, extra time was called. The fierce heat made it important to save breath, and after a few swift runs R. Pajer found it hard to get back into position. S. Claassen had a good try after 103 minutes, coming in on a fine move from the left, but the ball went wide. M. bin Emoi of Kanonbluss seemed to be floating in the air as he elegantly headed in to make the score 4 - 5 after a corner kick that was nicely executed by R. Pajer. What a dramatic win for Kanonbluss! The most dominating Bahnani player was without a doubt D. Sommavilla. On the other hand, I. Musiałowski's play was disheartening. Kanonbluss's best player was M. bin Emoi. However, J. Walker made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 4 - 5.