American 5 - 2 casal. (393401144)

Clouds darkened the skies at Billie Joe Armstrong Stadium as 65006 spectators turned up for the match. Gabriel Pérez was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Timo Saramäki and Andres Jõekallas. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for American. Starters: Caldara - Baquero, Luzii, Lamaresca - Hochkoeppler, Tropeano, Assanelli, Buzzi, Tarhia - Bagnato, Leta.

casal. tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Oberti - Liardo, Tommasini, Tumminia, Ellmerer - Tramutoli, Nonnis, Mezzera, Krinkin - Pedrini, Fait.

casal. clearly had decided to counter-attack when they could. After 15 minutes, P. Assanelli came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 1 - 0, giving American the lead. The crowd was silenced 24 minutes into the match as the visiting team's M. Tramutoli came in from the left, levelling the score to 1 - 1. After 31 minutes, G. Mezzera sent the corner kick right to G. Tumminia who headed it sharply past the keeper. 1 - 2! American's A. Luzii made a successful breakthrough on the left after 42 minutes and should have levelled the score, but instead he clipped it over the bar. casal. almost scored after a counterattack 43 minutes into the match, but V. Fait took a shot from the left that landed harmlessly in the side of the net. After 43 minutes of play, F. Tropeano evened things up for American with an impressive goal coming up the middle. 2 - 2. 2 - 2 was the score after the first half. American had most of the ball, with 67 percent of possession.

57 minutes had elapsed when a great chance for American to take the lead after a good cross from the right found C. Bagnato alone with the keeper, but he chipped it to the wrong side of the post. With 71 minutes played, the home side managed to get a 3 - 2 lead as C. Bagnato flipped the ball in after a cross from the right. The home side's R. Baquero curled a free kick home after 87 minutes, putting American ahead 4 - 2. The score became 5 - 2 at 88 minutes into the game, when American were given a penalty which R. Baquero blasted straight down the middle giving the keeper no chance! At this point, it was obvious that the players of American lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. 89 minutes in, casal.'s E. Liardo received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. American enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 69 percent of possession.

Most important American player was C. Bagnato. However, R. Baquero made a disastrous appearance. casal.'s top performer was clearly V. Fait. G. Tumminia on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 5 - 2.