ricambi 1 - 4 Tatanka (350752891)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 24845 had shown up at Spare Parts Arena for the match. Alpay Onan was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Giuliano Clemente and Staf Pires. ricambi started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. They fielded: Debiasi - Kamir, Szymko, Tătărăscu - Sandiford, Rothwell, Signorotto, Shkvorov, Gugini - Pagniello, Kauppi.

Tatanka had chosen a strategic 3-5-2 formation. The following players took the field: Brito - Chiacchioli, Nelke, Luzii - Ebersdorfer, Esgueva, Birot, Abdelli, Castanheira - Tabără, Linwald.

ricambi showed off their creative tactics. With 3 minutes played, the visitors broke through on the right after some poor defending. P. Linwald put the ball away for 0 - 1. After 15 minutes, P. Linwald sprinted between the opposing defenders and squared the ball, but the keeper deflected A. Tabără's shot. A handball in the penalty area gave the home team a penalty 20 minutes into the match, and J. Kauppi was able to score, taking the scoreline to 1 - 1. Making his way up the middle 28 minutes into the match, D. Rothwell almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert T. Brito blocked it to keep the score level. H. Ernst was called on to replace Tatanka's A. Abdelli after 35 minutes following a nasty collision. Tatanka's J. Castanheira gave the visitors a 1 - 2 lead after 36 minutes with a superb strike from the right. It was 1 - 2 at the break. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by ricambi, with 55 percent of the ball.

Given a free kick in a difficult position after 60 minutes, ricambi tried a variation that they had practised in training. The kick was sent into the area just in front of the keeper. However, the defence were on their toes and allowed no space for a finish. 70 minutes into the game, Tatanka worked the left side industriously creating several opportunities to add to their lead, but just couldn't apply the finishing touch. 72 minutes into the match, the speedy P. Linwald easily outpaced T. Szymko, chipped the keeper and made the score 1 - 3. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Tatanka lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. The visitors' A. Tabără took advantage of a misunderstanding between the home side's goalie and centre backs 79 minutes into the match. 1 - 4 for Tatanka. ricambi claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 55 percent.

A. Pagniello performed admirably for ricambi. However, L. Gugini made a disastrous appearance. Tatanka's best player was G. Birot. On the other hand, H. Ernst's play was disheartening. The match ends 1 - 4.