Rangers 1 - 0 United (393623357)

2380 spectators had come to Rangers Arena this cloudy day. Ingemar Roozenburg de Bree was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Nino Rageth and Guillermo Arroyo. Rangers tactics involved an interesting 5-3-2 combination. Starters: Vázquez - Vnuk, Palík, Hamr, Van Der Perren, Bergsma - Pultinavičius, Rank, Beltrán - Kallela, Ricart.

United decided to use a 3-4-3 set up. The following players had been chosen: Farkas - Lugg, Saiao, Maunuksela - Beye, Gräter, Amstein, Cardellino - Salimi, Bouma, Barrios.

Slack defending gave Rangers a chance to take the lead with 15 minutes played, but J. Ricart's cross from the left flank was fumbled in front of the goal and easily dealt with by the opposition. Making his way up the middle 21 minutes into the match, J. Kallela almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert M. Farkas blocked it to keep the score level. Some great play up the middle by Rangers led to a chance for G. Bergsma to score after 23 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. G. Bergsma's lack of experience almost gave United a goal after 29 minutes, but the shot went right into the keeper's arms. The home side put themselves ahead 1 - 0 after 29 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from J. Kallela, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing. With 30 minutes played, Rangers's D. Pultinavičius almost extended the lead, but his shot from the left glanced off the top of the bar to fall behind the net. Halftime score was 1 - 0. Rangers enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 69 percent of possession.

After 62 minutes, Rangers were awarded a free kick. Rather than shooting straight at goal, the taker went for an indirect variant which seemed to take his team mates a bit by surprise. F. Van Der Perren did attempt a finish, but from an awkward position, sending the ball into the away fans. Rangers will have to do without K. Hamr for a time, due to a bad foot injury at the 63 minute mark. He was substituted by K. Ferstl. After several obvious shirt pulling incidents, A. Lugg got himself booked. The manager of United was not happy. Unfortunately for United, H. Bouma suffered a concussion after 73 minutes and had to be taken for tests. The coach had his head in his hands after realising he could not send a replacement onto the pitch, and the team had to continue a man short. Rangers claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 70 percent.

Rangers's best player was F. Van Der Perren. K. Ferstl was a disappointment, however. United's top performer was clearly E. Barrios. However, L. Maunuksela made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 1 - 0.