mežciems 8 - 0 Pingviini (366468657)

Fairly good weather for football had drawn a crowd of 10574 to mežciems Arena. Radboud Baan was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Lucian Paraschiv and Boris Genov. mežciems tactics involved an interesting 4-4-2 combination. The following players had been chosen: Zandersons - Ozols, Kondratskiy, Khrupov, Liepa - Lipsts, Zilausis, Kārkliņš, Skarstāns - Zvirbulis, Plauksta.

Pingviini decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. Starters: Pētersons - Vakhrin, Ozols, Peldekss, Voronov - Zhigach, Cingulis, Slaidiņš, Pavlov - Landrats, Khugaev.

The visitors' central defence should have had no trouble clearing the pass to M. Zilausis, but the mežciems player managed to shrug them off and fired a low shot past the keeper to give his team the lead. 1 - 0! Ē. Klišāns was called on to replace Pingviini's G. Voronov after 14 minutes following a nasty collision. Cheers filled the stadium as E. Plauksta broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 2 - 0 to mežciems. Having been awarded a free kick in an awkward position after 23 minutes, mežciems did not go for a shot but instead fired the ball hard into the 6 yard box. After a brief tussle with his marker, A. Kārkliņš was able to power the ball past the keeper to make the score 3 - 0. At this point, it was obvious that the players of mežciems lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. With 30 minutes played, mežciems put themselves up 4 - 0 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to P. Khrupov, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home. 32 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as F. Ozols broke through, making the score 5 - 0 for mežciems. The teams went for the halftime break at 5 - 0. mežciems enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 74 percent of possession.

mežciems's F. Ozols struck his penalty well enough to beat the goalkeeper and extend the home team's lead to 6 - 0 after 47 minutes. mežciems had to make a substitution after 49 minutes. E. Plauksta limped off the field and was replaced by V. Batrakov. Given a free kick close to the byline, mežciems tried a move that loyal fans may recognise from training. A pass to the side pulled the defence out of position which let M. Zilausis slip through on goal. He didn't have to break his stride, and slipped the ball past the keeper to make it 7 - 0, 62 minutes into the game. After 69 minutes, a couple of quick and successful challenges followed by a shot from just outside the penalty area by J. Zvirbulis might have resulted in another goal for mežciems. However, G. Pētersons made a spectacular save. mežciems solidified their lead at the 79 minute mark, as M. Zilausis dribbled the ball through the opposing central defence and scored to make it 8 - 0. This third goal completed a hattrick for M. Zilausis. mežciems's M. Zilausis got himself booked for a foul. Pingviini's A. Slaidiņš went down after a savage challenge, but could continue playing after some medical attention. mežciems's E. Skarstāns swung in a good chance from the left, but the visitors' defence were able to clear the ball. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by mežciems, with 79 percent of the ball.

The most dominating mežciems player was without a doubt E. Skarstāns. However, V. Batrakov made a disastrous appearance. Pingviini's top performer was clearly M. Zhigach. G. Pētersons turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 8 - 0.