BAALBAK 0 - 2 BYA (392931909)

The crowd of 1277 turning up at Sane Sirro Baalbak Arena today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Mark Sheldon was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Lion Wannieck and Daniel Brown. BAALBAK started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. Lineup: Zanoni - Boutros, Soubra, Jaïdi, Deuster - Bazzi, Nahle, Diab, Jezzini - Cheaib, Łachowski.

BYA tactics involved an interesting 4-5-1 combination. Starters: Linhares - Rankonen, Shellukindo, Wind, Leriņš-Pētersons - Taherkhan, Tinuper, Blooteling, Bijl, Bülow - Sandholm.

BAALBAK mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle. J. Leriņš-Pētersons had a good opportunity to give BYA the lead as he charged down the right and struck the ball towards the top corner, but the home team's goalkeeper made the save. E. Bülow had a hard time on the waterlogged pitch - his trademark technique was nowhere in sight today. The guests almost went up by a goal after 34 minutes when F. Shellukindo came through and shot from the right. The ball bounced harmlessly off the post, though. After 35 minutes BAALBAK's A. Soubra had to be carried off on a stretcher in agony. S. El Mir came in to replace him. It was 0 - 0 at the break. BYA had most of the ball, with 52 percent of possession.

T. Rankonen of BYA was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. 54 minutes of the match played, and a comedy of errors by the home side gave the visitors a chance at the lead, but F. Shellukindo, after finding himself dashing down on goal from the left with only the keeper to beat, sliced his shot horribly wide. Some quick footwork on the left side of the field 56 minutes into the match left BYA's E. Bülow completely free to score. 0 - 1 for the visitors. The game was characterised by rough play and many physical challenges on the wet field, but I. Cheaib showed great heart and had a good game. With 63 minutes played, a quick exchange of passes on the left wing freed J. Leriņš-Pētersons of BYA to slip through the defence and score another goal for the visitors. That made the score 0 - 2. BAALBAK enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 51 percent of possession.

I. Cheaib performed admirably for BAALBAK. H. Zanoni was a disappointment, however. Most important BYA player was K. Taherkhan. On the other hand, T. Rankonen's play was disheartening. The match ends 0 - 2.