Racing 3 - 4 arbo89 (394295467)

It had rained all day, but 568 hardy fans still made it out to Bmw Arena. Klaus Jordan was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Edgardo Ursino and Endel Annus. Racing started off with a 3-4-3 lineup. The following players took the field: Elosu - Singleton, Kremer, ten Hove - Codorniu, Elizaycine, Cabral, Konoplev - Eggermont, Netov, Lansink.

arbo89 tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Pulko - Capuchines, Tuša, Svirkin - Candal, Bibov, Leitl, Jaehring, Zoydo - Casacuberta, Ploegmakers.

Racing saw most attack opportunities on the wings. It wasn't a pretty goal, but the free kick by S. ten Hove after 2 minutes somehow found its way past the keeper. Racing takes the lead, 1 - 0! K. Netov's speed was clear to see after 3 minutes, as he darted down the wing and released A. Eggermont who placed the ball into the back of the net to make the score 2 - 0. The players of Racing now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. X. Codorniu was the first to reach the corner kick, but his header was blocked by the keeper. However, Racing's D. Konoplev managed to get hold of the rebound and tucked the ball into the empty net. 3 - 0 The rain made it hard for players like D. Konoplev to show their technical control of the ball on this soggy day. G. Pulko was caught napping as S. ten Hove lifted a ball over him following a free kick, but the ball hit the bar, rebounding into the keeper's arms. S. Tuša was having a great game - if anything the pouring rain seemed to be spurring him on! Racing were determined to attack on the wing and their central attempts were constantly abandoned in favour of the wings. arbo89 were desperate to get a goal back and pushed forward through the middle 36 minutes into the game. After a scramble in the box, the ball dropped to U. Casacuberta, who smashed it home to make the score 3 - 1. It was 3 - 1 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to Racing, who controlled the ball 52 percent of the time.

Having been awarded a free kick in an awkward position after 51 minutes, arbo89 did not go for a shot but instead fired the ball hard into the 6 yard box. After a brief tussle with his marker, W. Ploegmakers was able to power the ball past the keeper to make the score 3 - 2. The visitors didn't give in and, after 81 minutes, N. Svirkin got through the home side's central line of defence, rolling in the equaliser to make it 3 - 3. 3 - 4 was the score with 83 minutes played, after U. Casacuberta cut through the central defence and chipped home a goal for arbo89. A good free kick by S. ten Hove would have scored the equaliser for Racing, had it not been for the dramatic save by the visitors' goalkeeper. arbo89 claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 56 percent.

The most dominating Racing player was without a doubt Y. Lansink. On the other hand, L. Kremer's play was disheartening. arbo89's top performer was clearly W. Ploegmakers. C. Candal on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 4.