Patriotes 3 - 4 _rapid_ (393057451)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and Stade René Lévesque saw a crowd turnout of 45000. Paul Friedrich Theiner was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Arthur Delorme and Pablo Tarragó. Patriotes tactics involved an interesting 5-4-1 combination. Starters: Tavus - Ritsch, Crawford, Floridia, Ghezzi, Hastings - Vaillancourt, Angius, Tantsura, Wedderburn - Groels.

_rapid_ decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. Lineup: Sámuel - Hubrich, Osman, Sitař, Butler - Ansell, Zubizarreta, Castellmolto, Cassella - Gurley, Somerled.

Patriotes were relying on their ability to counter-attack. After 26 minutes, _rapid_'s H. Zubizarreta made his way through the middle and nonchalantly placed the ball out of the keeper's reach, putting the visitors up 0 - 1. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, D. Hastings got himself booked. The manager of Patriotes was not happy. With the clock showing 39 minutes played, a great pass from the defensive line of Patriotes resulted in a counterattack that was smoothly brought under control by D. Wedderburn in the centre of the opposition's penalty area, but his finish went high. The teams went for the halftime break at 0 - 1. _rapid_ enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 63 percent of possession.

The visitors' W. Somerled took advantage of a misunderstanding between the home side's goalie and centre backs 57 minutes into the match. 0 - 2 for _rapid_. W. Somerled was, after 58 minutes, almost able to extend the visitors' lead with a well placed diving header after the ball had looped into the centre, but the home side's keeper E. Tavus made the save. Patriotes's fans were urging them forward as they tried to get back into the game, and their vocal support was rewarded 59 minutes into the match as A. Floridia ran onto a beautiful ball played through the visitors' defence and slotted it past the keeper to reduce the deficit. 1 - 2. After 69 minutes, following yet another great corner, A. Angius's flick on at the near post reached D. Wedderburn, who was just wide with his snapshot - the ball went out for a goal kick. After 78 minutes of play, D. Wedderburn evened things up for Patriotes with an impressive goal coming up the middle. 2 - 2. _rapid_ had most of the ball, with 61 percent of possession.

As neither team was able to break the deadlock before the end of regular play, the teams took to the field again for extra time. After 102 minutes, the defensive line of Patriotes created a counterattack through the middle that gave A. Crawford a good look at the goal, but his shot glanced harmlessly off the crossbar. Patriotes had a chance to take the lead after H. Groels's dazzling drive up the left, but the opportunity fizzled out as his shot went just over the bar after 114 minutes. There was still no winner after 30 minutes of extra time so the teams had to select a lineup for a penalty shoot-out to settle the result.

Patriotes's E. Tantsura made no mistake. B. Sámuel didn't have a chance. 3 - 2. _rapid_'s J. Ansell didn't look like he was confident as he stepped up, and produced a badly struck penalty - right into the arms of E. Tavus. The score remained 3 - 2. Clearly nervous from the start, Patriotes's A. Crawford took a long run up, but could only blast the ball over the bar. The score remains 3 - 2. _rapid_'s L. Gurley was relaxed as he smoothly put the ball in the net. 3 - 3! Patriotes's D. Wedderburn looked like he knew exactly where he wanted to put the ball, but unfortunately his shot went wide of the left hand post. Still 3 - 3. _rapid_'s W. Somerled showed he has nerves of steel when it comes to penalties, easily changing the score to 3 - 4. Patriotes's H. Groels looked nervous even as he was putting the ball on the spot. He didn't take much of a run up, and his weak shot was easily saved by the keeper. _rapid_'s H. Zubizarreta didn't hesitate but E. Tavus managed the save, resulting in an unchanged 3 - 4 score. Patriotes's M. Ritsch cockily booted the ball with a short-and-fast instep. The penalty, going just wide of the mark, didn't produce a goal. Oooh - how unlucky! _rapid_'s R. Butler attempt hit the underside of the bar, but rebounded down into the grateful arms of E. Tavus. The score stays 3 - 4. Most important Patriotes player was A. Floridia. D. Wedderburn turned in a dismal performance, however. _rapid_'s top performer was clearly W. Somerled. R. Butler on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 4.