Zenit 3 - 2 Münch (368766058)

The crowd of 36000 turning up at BSA München Nord today were greeted with some nasty showers of rain. Arvids Petersons was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Charlie Bernhardsson and Gian Carlo Marcolin. A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Zenit. The following players had been chosen: Sick - Berezhnov, Lujano - Durand, Serra, Tannheimer, da Seara, Šterbal - Ivaşcu, Haye, Spitoni.

Münch decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. The following players took the field: Baerntatz - Pálfy, Wallig, Prenzlau - Potthoff, Wunstorf, Koenigsmarck, Heereman, Cartharius - Vinkers, Gadinger.

It was a bad day for the usually speedy T. Durand. The mud seemed to slow him down. After 34 minutes, Zenit were awarded a free kick. Rather than shooting straight at goal, the taker went for an indirect variant which seemed to take his team mates a bit by surprise. P. Spitoni did attempt a finish, but from an awkward position, sending the ball into the away fans. E. da Seara gave Zenit the lead as he successfully challenged the guests' central defenders, then slotted the ball into the bottom corner, giving the keeper no chance. 1 - 0 Zenit's J. Haye made use of his speed to get free of the defence, but he still couldn't get a shot off 39 minutes into the match. With 40 minutes played, A. Vinkers came in from the right and could have evened the score, but the defenders successfully repelled the attack by Münch. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 0. Zenit had most of the ball, with 58 percent of possession.

W. Tannheimer had a hard time on the waterlogged pitch - his trademark technique was nowhere in sight today. B. Serra unleashed a swerving effort from the right that the visitors' keeper did well to tip wide. 54 minutes into the match the visitors levelled the score at 1 - 1 as M. Wallig struck home from a rebound off the crossbar, following a shot from the right. 55 minutes in, Zenit's P. Spitoni received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. They were singing the praises of E. da Seara 68 minutes into the match after his speculative chip from the middle of the penalty box found its way over the visitors' keeper to make the score 2 - 1 to Zenit. As the game started to slip away for Münch, the manager decided to change the tactical approach. B. Gadinger finished off a quick charge from the left of the field by chipping the ball just past the home side's keeper, making the score 2 - 2 69 minutes into the match. After 76 minutes, V. Berezhnov came in from the right, feinted, then sped past the off-balance defender to make the score 3 - 2, giving Zenit the lead. Although the whole team were struggling to impress, Münch's K. Pálfy was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 79 minutes. F. Matte was given a chance to change things around. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by Zenit, with 58 percent of the ball.

The most dominating Zenit player was without a doubt J. Haye. On the other hand, V. Berezhnov's play was disheartening. Most important Münch player was A. Vinkers. T. Koenigsmarck turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 3 - 2.