OldFirmAlvalade 3 - 1 alfa (394296296)

1061 punters turned up at GreenHouse Hell Stadium, and despite threatening clouds on the horizon, no rain came. William Swimm was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Leo Stamen and Ivan Huruk. OldFirmAlvalade started off with a 3-4-3 lineup. Starters: Blatter - Vinte, Gonçalves, Nogueira - Zauritz, Amitai, Eskonen, Fonseca - Villegas, Ferraz, Simões.

A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for alfa. Lineup: Kosič - Pérez, Verhoek - Marín Pérez, 宏富 (Hongfu), Granet, Apostolović, Llongueres - Bangsgaard, 智森 (Zhisen) , Tortosa Saavedra.

1 minutes into the match, the referee signalled for a OldFirmAlvalade substitution. F. Genolini came on for H. Villegas. I. Vinte was the new captain of OldFirmAlvalade - handed the armband by the departing player. alfa had to make a substitution after 13 minutes. P. Llongueres limped off the field and was replaced by B. Gabor. Many thought F. Genolini ought to have been awarded a penalty 19 minutes into the game, as he went down trying to dribble around L. Kosič after a determined run through the middle. alfa's P. Pérez was shown a yellow card after 21 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Making his way up the middle 24 minutes into the match, A. Eskonen almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert L. Kosič blocked it to keep the score level. With 29 minutes played A. Ferraz almost gave the home side the lead with an unexpected free kick set up, but the visitors' L. Kosič was onto it, grabbing the would be breakthrough ball. OldFirmAlvalade took the lead 39 minutes in, as C. Simões broke through on the left and put the 1 - 0 shot just beyond the reach of the outstretched keeper. F. Genolini had a fantastic opportunity to put OldFirmAlvalade up another goal 42 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. 1 - 0 was the score after the first half. OldFirmAlvalade claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 59 percent.

OldFirmAlvalade's A. Nogueira swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. P. Tortosa Saavedra showed why he is feared on the counterattack, breaking through in the middle and scoring for alfa after 50 minutes to make the score 1 - 1. With 64 minutes played A. Eskonen almost put the home team one ahead on a cross coming in from the right, but the shot went just wide. A well placed corner kick from A. Ferraz was followed by A. Fonseca's hard but accurate header. The well executed routine resulted in a goal for OldFirmAlvalade, the score now 2 - 1. OldFirmAlvalade's I. Vinte had an excellent opportunity after 71 minutes, shooting after receiving a pass from the right hand side, but he missed the goal by miles! Coming from the right, A. Ferraz almost managed to score another goal for OldFirmAlvalade, but his header was tipped over the bar by the visitors' keeper. Things were going to get worse for the visitors. A. Ferraz squirmed through their central defence after 74 minutes, increasing the lead to 3 - 1. Possession in this half belonged to OldFirmAlvalade, who controlled the ball 60 percent of the time.

C. Simões performed admirably for OldFirmAlvalade. A. Eskonen on the other hand, had a terrible day. alfa's top performer was clearly G. Granet. P. Pérez was a disappointment, however. The match ends 3 - 1.