Catania 3 - 1 Reinforces (393726957)

Clouds darkened the skies at Dell'Erba as 1739 spectators turned up for the match. Sebastian Gubernat was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Leyton Anderson and João Pinheiro. Catania decided to use a 4-5-1 set up. Lineup: Da Costa - Kaasik, Lombardi, Urbain, Valente - Calvelli, Ruiz, Moura, Mane, Verdiani - Polato.

Reinforces started off with a 5-4-1 lineup. Starters: Grzenia - Chylaszek, Mitterer, Tilves, Billanti, Gorzołka - Szulczewski, Murina, Łyżwiński, Szreiber - Pachucy.

It was an obvious ambition of Catania to use their ability at attacking on the flanks. Reinforces were relying on their ability to counter-attack. Catania took the lead after 7 minutes as a result of G. Lombardi's peach of a shot from the right hand side of the box - placed beautifully in the top corner. 1 - 0. Reinforces's C. Mitterer refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 8 minutes. D. Murina made a good effort at breaking through on the right, but the home team's left defence cleared the ball to a corner. Attacking on the wings was the choice for Catania, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. Catania put in a good effort on the right, but M. Polato saw his volley fly wide of the mark 14 minutes into the game. Catania's M. Valente increased the lead to 2 - 0, after he saw his shot go between the legs of the advancing goalkeeper following some good play down the right wing after 22 minutes. 26 minutes into the game, Reinforces's attack got through on the right, but H. Pachucy couldn't handle the ball and his feeble kick wound up in the keeper's arms. Catania's T. Moura had an excellent opportunity after 34 minutes, shooting after receiving a pass from the right hand side, but he missed the goal by miles! Catania's E. Ruiz was shown a yellow card after 35 minutes for slicing down an opponent. 2 - 0 was the halftime score. Catania enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 79 percent of possession.

Catania put themselves up 3 - 0 when M. Polato broke through on the right, leaving the entire defence trailing in his wake. E. Ruiz could have put Catania up one more, but he fired into the side netting after breaking free on the left after 65 minutes. A. Gorzołka stunned the crowd with a brilliant counterattack from the left, giving Reinforces the goal to make it 3 - 1. The referee showed Reinforces's C. Mitterer the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Catania had to make a substitution after 68 minutes. G. Lombardi limped off the field and was replaced by J. Czekalski. Reinforces needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 70 minutes L. Szreiber made way for J. Koisar. M. Polato left the field with a smile on his face as he was substituted 71 minutes into the game, as his team was in the lead. M. Lehtolainen was the replacement. The coach of Catania was happy with the game so far, but still wanted to change the line up. After 71 minutes, T. Gurgone came on for M. Verdiani. 74 minutes into the game Reinforces managed a counterattack, but H. Pachucy took a soft shot from the left flank that was easy prey for the alert keeper. Catania's M. Lehtolainen put in a disappointing effort on a penalty after 75 minutes, firing just wide of the goal. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Catania, with 77 percent of the ball.

Catania's top performer was clearly M. Lehtolainen. L. Urbain turned in a dismal performance, however. Reinforces's best player was J. Koisar. C. Mitterer was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 1.