F.C.MARUSELU 2 - 3 SPORTING-2012 (394178758)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 478 at BERNABEIU today. Sjakie van Gool was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Harro Latt and Tuomas Männikkö. A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for F.C.MARUSELU. Lineup: Keszei - Lihalakha, Cémann, Levitan - Ichaso, Salomon, Neustadt, Rapino, Cristea - Tokody, Deneş.

SPORTING-2012 started off with a 2-5-3 lineup. They fielded: Lemming - Fasan, Inglada - Isac, Couchot, Świecicki, Farkas, Oppum - Delavallée, Bodzás, Cârstea.

F.C.MARUSELU demonstrated their creative tactics on the field. SPORTING-2012 took a creative approach on the field. Some great play up the middle by F.C.MARUSELU led to a chance for B. Tokody to score after 4 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. B. Cémann caused the crowd to go mental with his goal up the middle after 6 minutes. This gave F.C.MARUSELU the 1 - 0 lead. As the game started to slip away for SPORTING-2012, the manager decided to change the tactical approach. The SPORTING-2012 coach was desperate to reverse his team's fortunes in the game, and ordered his team to change strategy. After 6 minutes, SPORTING-2012 used a short break in the game to take new instructions from their coach. The SPORTING-2012 players listened closely to their manager, as he gave new tactical instructions for the team. As the game started to slip away for SPORTING-2012, the manager decided to change the tactical approach. J. Delavallée's speed was clear to see after 10 minutes, as he darted down the wing and released D. Cârstea who placed the ball into the back of the net to make the score 1 - 1. F.C.MARUSELU made a bid to take the lead as a ball coming in on the right hand side left C. Neustadt completely alone with keeper M. Lemming, who made a spectacular block. F.C.MARUSELU's H. Salomon was shown a yellow card for standing over the ball and blocking an opponent's quick free kick after 28 minutes. F.C.MARUSELU had a chance to take the lead after F. Ichaso's dazzling drive up the left, but the opportunity fizzled out as his shot went just over the bar after 29 minutes. SPORTING-2012's J. Delavallée managed to lose the defenders as he advanced down the right wing and scored, putting the visitors ahead after 34 minutes. 1 - 2. J. Delavallée hit the corner kick straight to the keeper, but it was mishandled, giving SPORTING-2012's D. Cârstea an easy chance to knock it in for 1 - 3. By now, the players in SPORTING-2012 felt that victory was guaranteed and began to play it safe, focusing on defence and not risking too much going forward. The home side worked hard to get through the middle and as a result, had a good chance of getting one back as I. Rapino tried lifting the ball over keeper M. Lemming. Unfortunately, the ball went just over the bar. Halftime score was 1 - 3. Possession in this half belonged to F.C.MARUSELU, who controlled the ball 59 percent of the time.

J. Delavallée came close to extending the visitors' lead when he found himself completely unmarked in front of the goal after a pass through the middle. He tried to lift the ball over A. Keszei but overcooked it and hit the bar instead. The home crowd was given a certain amount of consolation when B. Tokody scored after a brilliant midfield combination through the centre, reducing the lead to 2 - 3. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave D. Cârstea from SPORTING-2012 a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 74 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! F. Ichaso was just a finger's breadth away from an equaliser for F.C.MARUSELU with a strike from the left, but M. Lemming managed to ward the shot off for a corner. F.C.MARUSELU put pressure on the visitors' central defence 79 minutes into the game, but B. Tokody couldn't find an opening. D. Inglada of SPORTING-2012 was booked for kicking the ball away after the whistle. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by F.C.MARUSELU, with 60 percent of the ball.

V. Deneş performed admirably for F.C.MARUSELU. However, F. Ichaso made a disastrous appearance. SPORTING-2012's best player was K. Bodzás. H. Świecicki turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 2 - 3.