portichuelo 1 - 3 Funtiks (393352209)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 1581 at arroyo santanita city today. Nils Luinbuhl was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Anselmo Hrabina and Josh Burton. portichuelo had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. Lineup: Sparacio - Laurent, Criveller, Fernandes Almeida - Hägersten, Gondža, Lugones, Bergen, Taviel - Kinsbergen, Prieto.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Funtiks. They fielded: Tumielewicz - Schalkx, Majanlahti, Gonçalves Moura - Baykeev, Kelsall, Lima Paiva, Maneev, Koginov - Zott, López.

Pressing was the tactic of the day for portichuelo. Funtiks used their ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the pitch, rather than on the wings. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Funtiks's C. Schalkx after 19 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 0 - 1 lead. D. López was, after 25 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. Sparacio made the save. With 37 minutes played, V. Baykeev nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through in the middle and fired from just outside the box, but his shot passed just over the bar. Funtiks's opponents know to be wary of D. López's speed, but it made little difference as he flew past the defence 39 minutes into the game. Only the keeper could stop him - and he did with a perfectly timed dive! portichuelo's M. Fernandes Almeida refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 40 minutes. 0 - 1 was the halftime score. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Funtiks, with 66 percent of the ball.

The portichuelo free kick 47 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But was this actually a plan? The ball landed at the feet of R. Prieto, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 1 - 1! Some quick footwork on the left side of the field 68 minutes into the match left Funtiks's R. Majanlahti completely free to score. 1 - 2 for the visitors. portichuelo's talent at pressing frustrated the spectators as the game became a dire midfield struggle. Funtiks were determined to attack in the middle, even their wing attacks ended up centrally. After 75 minutes a combination in the middle resulted in a through ball for V. Koginov who increased Funtiks's lead to 1 - 3. Confident in their lead, Funtiks's players relaxed and focused more on defending the lead than increasing it. Central attacks were the recipe of the day for Funtiks, as they moved the ball from the wings to the middle with startling regularity. The home crowd cheered when, after 78 minutes, M. Maneev's charge up the middle resulted in the keeper making one of his best saves of the day. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, D. López got himself booked. The manager of Funtiks was not happy. Possession in this half belonged to Funtiks, who controlled the ball 69 percent of the time.

Most important portichuelo player was W. Kinsbergen. On the other hand, S. Criveller's play was disheartening. The most dominating Funtiks player was without a doubt S. Zott. A. Kelsall was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 3.