warriors 9 - 2 Athletico (393408077)

Clear skies welcomed the 1821 spectators who had made their way to The Pride Park Arena. Robert-Jan van Gog was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Sol Caulee-Ramsamy and Basilio Gobnesti. warriors had chosen a strategic 4-3-3 formation. They fielded: Kubisztal - Blantyre, Clark, Wüest, Timokhin - Menander, Chugg, Rašidović - Golding, Li, Kalous.

Athletico tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Jasenčák - Holdert, Mathiasson, Solati - Síp, De lotto, Jones, Mpaltzis, Studler - Retegui, Vescan.

warriors used their ability to concentrate their attacks in the middle of the pitch, rather than on the wings. The visiting W. Vescan was booed thoroughly by the home crowd 7 minutes into the game, after he broke through the middle and scored, resulting in the visitors taking the lead. 0 - 1 was the score. warriors's K. Blantyre put his head to a well placed ball, lifted in from the left, and scored to make the score 1 - 1 with 18 minutes showing on the scoreboard clock. Athletico's A. Holdert got himself booked for a foul. 34 minutes in, warriors appeared unsure on how to play and their organisation was only passable. After 37 minutes of play, T. Timokhin gave the home team a 2 - 1 lead after an attack coming in from the right. The visitors kept the pressure on to tie the game when, after 40 minutes, A. Solati broke through the centre and found himself alone with the keeper. R. Kubisztal made a great block, though. warriors players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. L. Golding squirmed through their central defence after 41 minutes, increasing the lead to 3 - 1. A. Rašidović received some harsh words from his coach after he acted foolishly 41 minutes into the match, probably out of lack of experience, and almost let an opponent score. Central attacks were the recipe of the day for warriors, as they moved the ball from the wings to the middle with startling regularity. Athletico's J. Studler was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the opposition's box - R. Retegui managed to volley one of them into the net to make it 3 - 2 after 43 minutes. It was 3 - 2 at the break. warriors claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 65 percent.

The warriors players spent the break getting a rerun of the team's tactical organisation and regained a solid organisation when the game started again. With 47 minutes played, warriors put themselves up 4 - 2 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to S. Clark, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home. 51 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as T. Menander broke through, making the score 5 - 2 for warriors. warriors put themselves up 6 - 2 when A. Kalous broke through on the right, leaving the entire defence trailing in his wake. 54 minutes into the game, warriors seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion and they fell to a inadequate level of organisation. 65 minutes into the match, warriors's J. Li demonstrated his famed speed as he raced past his marker and passed the ball to L. Golding who chipped it in for 7 - 2. By now, the players in warriors felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. After 74 minutes, J. Li put warriors ahead 8 - 2 when he rose to head in a cross from the right wing. After 75 minutes, the away team failed to deal with a good exchange of passes on the right, and J. Wüest gave the warriors supporters even more to cheer about when he increased the lead to 9 - 2. 76 minutes in, warriors's T. Timokhin received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. After 81 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as warriors found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to inadequate. warriors had most of the ball, with 68 percent of possession.

Most important warriors player was T. Menander. On the other hand, S. Clark's play was disheartening. D. De lotto performed admirably for Athletico. A. Holdert turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 9 - 2.