United 3 - 5 DongSonFC (393317991)

2990 spectators had come to Barbera Bowl this cloudy day. Luis Alonso was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Eduardo Branquinho and Gunnar Erik Nelson. United tactics involved an interesting 2-5-3 combination. Lineup: Biserni - Marche, Voiculescu - Bleibaum, Karlsson, Burgemeester, Aimetti, Russomando - Reekers, Allrutz, Le Blevec.

DongSonFC had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. The following players had been chosen: Panaitescu - Ortega Flores, Galvano, Vosse, Văn Hiến - Anh Quân, Đan Vĩ, Phúc Mông, Văn Đấu, Gelfort - Tzenkov.

DongSonFC mostly ignored the flanks in favour of their ability to attack in the middle. The terraces were silenced after 3 minutes when DongSonFC's T. Phúc Mông put the guests ahead 0 - 1, following an attack on the right. After 14 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for T. Phúc Mông who increased DongSonFC's lead to 0 - 2. 15 minutes into the match, United's L. Bleibaum collected a ball sent down the right and put it in the back of the net, narrowing the score to 1 - 2. N. Tzenkov of DongSonFC took advantage of a mistake on the home side's right after 27 minutes which increased the away team's lead to 1 - 3. A misunderstanding between the visitors' keeper R. Panaitescu and his left defence could have resulted in a goal for United, but G. Le Blevec's finish was way too lame. 1 - 3 was the score after the first half. Possession in this half belonged to DongSonFC, who controlled the ball 51 percent of the time.

United reduced the lead to 2 - 3 with 62 minutes on the clock when C. Russomando got the best of a ball floated in from the left. Y. Marche could have scored for United with his free kick after 72 minutes, but the visitors' keeper just managed to get a hand on it. DongSonFC players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. F. Ortega Flores received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 80 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 2 - 4. The DongSonFC fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. There was concern in the stands when, at the 81 minute mark, United's P. Biserni hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. A lack of experience caused G. Aimetti to make a difficult dribble close to dangerous opponent T. Phúc Mông of DongSonFC, who took the opportunity to score making it 2 - 5. At that, T. Phúc Mông was noted down for a hat trick! Confident in their lead, DongSonFC's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. United's G. Aimetti got the home crowd going when he finished off a left wing charge, reducing the away team's lead to 3 - 5. United claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 53 percent.

United's top performer was clearly F. Burgemeester. On the other hand, G. Aimetti's play was disheartening. The most dominating DongSonFC player was without a doubt N. Tzenkov. However, D. Galvano made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 3 - 5.