Popov 6 - 2 DBOM (392996947)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and Popov Arena saw a crowd turnout of 1055. Jan Stloukal was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Diarmuid Mulrooney and Aðmantas Akstinas. Popov decided to use a 2-5-3 set up. They fielded: Soler - Candita, Lipari - ten Hoove, Ceneroni, Coroneo, Rossetti, Di Lorenzo - Mallo, Lacaille, Préau.

DBOM started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Vega Sandoval - Kap, Zinniker, Leonhardsen - De Pasquale, Allahverdi, 少铮 (Shaozheng) , Bridonneau, Dybiec - Deferm, Candal.

The wings were the focus of most of Popov's attacks today. DBOM clearly preferred using their ability to attack in the middle. With 12 minutes showing on the scoreboard, Popov had a chance to take the lead after being awarded a penalty, but G. Lacaille's shot was blocked by P. Vega Sandoval. DBOM caught their opponents out with a clever counterattack down the right wing 13 minutes into the match. N. Bridonneau was able to finish off the move - 0 - 1. The crowd was on its feet 14 minutes into the match, as Popov's L. Coroneo found himself unmarked in front of the goal after a dash up the left side. He calmly put away the 1 - 1 equaliser. 15 minutes into the match, DBOM nearly took the lead, as J. Kap broke through on the right. Á. Soler made the save, however. 24 minutes into the match and the home team took a 2 - 1 lead after breaking through on the left. The scorer for Popov was M. Mallo. A magnificent combination in the middle resulted in Popov's M. Mallo increasing the lead to 3 - 1. As the match clock hit 29 minutes, Popov regrouped to try and keep their initiative in the game. G. Lipari high-fived M. Rossetti as they swapped positions on the team. G. Lipari wanted to play on, but the Popov coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 30 minutes into the game by S. Holliger. The Popov players could smell victory in the air. L. Coroneo wasn't in a hurry to leave the field as he was substituted for Y. Lavrentsov after 30 minutes. 3 - 1 was the score after the first half. Neither team was controlling the possession at this point in the match, with the stats showing a 50:50 split.

The bench was restless, and with 46 minutes passed DBOM's coach gave M. Farič the opportunity the player had been hoping for. T. Zinniker reluctantly left the field. B. Dybiec was the new captain of DBOM - handed the armband by the departing player. Still ahead in the game after 50 minutes, Popov made some tactical adjustments. M. Mallo and M. Rossetti swapped positions. DBOM reduced the lead after 60 minutes to 3 - 2 as M. Allahverdi easily chipped the ball past the home side's keeper after a dazzling play from the right. Y. Lavrentsov increased the lead for Popov to 4 - 2, getting a head onto a hooked ball from the right. The ball looked to have taken a deflection on the way in, but he's claiming it! Things were deteriorating for the away team as Popov scored another to make it 5 - 2 after a left side attack resulted in a goal for M. Rossetti after 70 minutes. Popov were determined to attack on the wing and their central attempts were constantly abandoned in favour of the wings. After 72 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and S. Holliger gave the Popov supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 6 - 2. Possession was split evenly between the teams.

Most important Popov player was V. Préau. M. Mallo on the other hand, had a terrible day. DBOM's top performer was clearly S. Deferm. On the other hand, B. Dybiec's play was disheartening. The match ends 6 - 2.