Dinamo 5 - 4 Tiberians (392863932)

A scorching day at Plaza de Domani, where 41768 spectators were in place for today's match. Joël von Allmen was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Rob Gunnarsson and Georg Friedrich Reinosch. The derby had been the talk of Rotterdam all week and fans of both teams could be seen throughout the stadium. Dinamo started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Al-Ibrahim - Soyer, Rasquilho, Wolfsen - den Hertog, Brekveld, Bazuin, Škola, van Pelt - Zadelaar, van Iersel.

Tiberians decided to use a 2-5-3 set up. Starters: Speel - Lőw, Hodzelmans - Hadamar, Soeteman, Dekkers, Welbergen, de Kruijff - Jordens, Spinnewyn, Willigers.

Dinamo tried to focus their attacks down the middle. Dinamo took the lead 20 minutes into the game by 1 - 0, as M. Škola elegantly received a long range pass through the middle, finishing off with a half-volley shot just below the bar. After 24 minutes, Tiberians's D. Hadamar fell awkwardly, but was determined to stay in the match. That's the spirit! A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Dinamo's H. Bazuin increasing the lead to 2 - 0. The visitors replied 39 minutes into the game, reducing the home side's lead to 2 - 1, as D. Spinnewyn dashed up the middle, easily lobbing the ball over the home team's keeper. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. E. van Pelt squirmed through their central defence after 40 minutes, increasing the lead to 3 - 1. 42 minutes into the game, E. van Pelt had to leave the pitch due to a knee injury. In came S. Herenius. H. van Iersel became the new Dinamo captain. It was a hot and sunny day, and several players seemed worn out. Maybe this was why J. Jordens found an unusual amount of space for his snappy footwork. It was 3 - 1 at the break. Dinamo claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 57 percent.

With 47 minutes played, Dinamo's M. Zadelaar almost extended the lead, but his shot from the left glanced off the top of the bar to fall behind the net. Dinamo's M. Rasquilho had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 53 minutes having been played. T. Poels was the replacement. It was obvious that team Dinamo had instructions to attack in the middle instead of on the wings. 58 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as M. Škola broke through, making the score 4 - 1 for Dinamo. The players of Dinamo now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. The bench was restless, and with 61 minutes passed Tiberians's coach gave T. Aercke the opportunity the player had been hoping for. R. Dekkers reluctantly left the field. S. Herenius didn't pace himself at all, and after a series of daring offensive runs he was too tired to help out in the defensive play. Dinamo had a good opportunity to attack on the wing, but remembered their instructions to go for middle attacks. Cheers filled the stadium as M. Soyer broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 5 - 1 to Dinamo. The away team improved the scoreline to 5 - 2, as J. Jordens struck home, set up well by a play on the left 76 minutes into the match. 83 minutes in, Tiberians's D. Spinnewyn received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. A loud groan was heard from the fans of Dinamo, as S. Herenius left the pitch in too much pain to finish the match. B. Hieltjes took his place on the field. 86 minutes into the match, Tiberians replied and reduced the lead to 5 - 3. D. Spinnewyn scored on a marvellous cross pass coming in from the left. Tiberians managed to reduce the score to 5 - 4 as D. Spinnewyn finished off a well-played combination from the left, easily carving through the defence. At that, D. Spinnewyn was noted down for a hat trick! Tiberians enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 53 percent of possession.

Dinamo's top performer was clearly M. Zadelaar. B. Hieltjes on the other hand, had a terrible day. Tiberians's best player was D. Spinnewyn. D. Hadamar turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 5 - 4.