Talifan 1 - 3 IRG (393713975)

It had rained all day, but 952 hardy fans still made it out to El Molinón. Jean Gentil was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Iso Aljoski and Quintiliano Stefani. The match took place on neutral ground. Talifan had chosen a strategic 4-5-1 formation. The following players had been chosen: Acero - Gallard, Sanaüja, Chourizo, Iluz - Konanykin, Colet, Quintero, Hartos, Beaujard - Chías.

A 5-2-3 alignment was the formation of choice for IRG. They fielded: Loga - Astapenko, van Haarlem, Palomino, Glaria, Ferro - Czumaj, Balázs - Portoneria, Berbegal, Monjaraz.

Talifan were mostly trying to use their skill at attacking on the flanks. Counter-attacking seemed to be the preferred strategy of IRG. Talifan were determined to attack on the wing and their central attempts were constantly abandoned in favour of the wings. Talifan's J. Chías got himself booked for a foul. After 19 minutes, there was a bit of a mixup on the field as Talifan found themselves out of position and their organisation level dropped to wretched. X. Acero looked great 29 minutes into the match after stopping a shot from the middle of the penalty area from the visitors' G. Balázs. After 33 minutes IRG's G. Balázs had to be carried off on a stretcher in agony. Y. Shoham came in to replace him. The muddy pitch made the game a gritty affair, which seemed to suit M. Hartos just fine. 0 - 1 was the score with 42 minutes played, after E. Portoneria cut through the central defence and chipped home a goal for IRG. The referee showed IRG's I. Astapenko the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. The teams went for the halftime break at 0 - 1. Possession in this half belonged to IRG, who controlled the ball 55 percent of the time.

Despite his frustration resulting in the smashing of a few teacups, the coach of Talifan was able to get his message across, and raised Talifan's organisation to inadequate. R. Konanykin was the first to reach the corner kick, but his header was blocked by the keeper. However, Talifan's D. Iluz managed to get hold of the rebound and tucked the ball into the empty net. 1 - 1 M. Hartos would have preferred to play on, but his coach decided otherwise. M. Mestres entered the game for Talifan as the match clock showed 60 minutes. 70 minutes into the game, Talifan wanted to bring some new energy to their game. P. Quintero gave J. Homedes a quick hug as he left the field. With the clock showing 76 minutes played, a great pass from the defensive line of IRG resulted in a counterattack that was smoothly brought under control by Y. Shoham in the centre of the opposition's penalty area, but his finish went high. Talifan's M. Mestres was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 81 minutes. Several players were looking tired, especially L. Chourizo who gifted the opposition a goal as he lost the ball to a still energetic E. Portoneria of IRG after 82 minutes. 1 - 2 Attacking on the wings was the choice for Talifan, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. IRG showed their counterattack skill 84 minutes into the match by breaking through the middle, with R. Berbegal scoring uncontested for 1 - 3. At this point, it was obvious that the players of IRG lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. 86 minutes into the game, Talifan seemed to suffer a certain amount of confusion and they fell to a weak level of organisation. 88 minutes in, IRG's L. van Haarlem received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. Talifan needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 89 minutes Q. Sanaüja made way for R. Haj-Hamdan. Talifan claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 71 percent.

Most important Talifan player was M. Mestres. On the other hand, R. Haj-Hamdan's play was disheartening. E. Portoneria performed admirably for IRG. R. Czumaj was a disappointment, however. The match ends 1 - 3.