Maiana 3 - 2 FC Thun 09 (369232884)

Dark skies made the crowd of 23196 at Maneaba a little nervous, but the rain held off. Eduard Werdenberg was the appointed referee with assistance provided by George Shephard and René Rennert. Maiana tactics involved an interesting 3-4-3 combination. Starters: Magri - Dunsky, Joeira, Poldrugač - Oñate, Lønholdt, Rodríguez, Dioh - Figuła, Düppenbecker, Kölliker.

FC Thun 09 decided to use a 3-5-2 set up. The following players took the field: Khattab - Montgomery, Ploeger, Mans - Binkiewicz, Garcia, Keneshlu, dos Santos, Mariucci - Darré, Sculeanu.

The corner kick from C. Mans was powerfully met by the head of J. Garcia to make the score 0 - 1. The Maiana free kick 5 minutes into the match seemed wasted, as the shot was both short and off target. But was this actually a plan? The ball landed at the feet of D. Düppenbecker, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 1 - 1! Maiana's I. Dunsky got himself booked for a foul. The player down was J. Garcia. The FC Thun 09 bench looked worried for a while, but in the end he managed to get up. FC Thun 09 took the lead 21 minutes into the game, making the score 1 - 2 after some elegant movement down the middle. M. Binkiewicz was the scorer. FC Thun 09's E. Mariucci left the field after 27 minutes because of a nasty blow to the shin. His replacement was P. Manuel de León. 28 minutes into the game, FC Thun 09 worked the left side industriously creating several opportunities to add to their lead, but just couldn't apply the finishing touch. 29 minutes in, Maiana's É. Joeira received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. After 35 minutes of play, R. Rodríguez evened things up for Maiana with an impressive goal coming up the middle. 2 - 2. The teams went for the halftime break at 2 - 2. FC Thun 09 claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 51 percent.

Making his way up the middle 51 minutes into the match, D. Düppenbecker almost managed to squeeze a goal past the visitors' keeper, but the alert K. Khattab blocked it to keep the score level. With the match clock at 55 minutes, FC Thun 09 modified their style of play a little bit. FC Thun 09's M. Binkiewicz was shown a yellow card after 55 minutes for slicing down an opponent. Maiana's W. Figuła went down after a savage challenge, but could continue playing after some medical attention. The visitors were very close to gaining the lead with a marvellous free kick after 67 minutes, but S. Magri made a beautiful one-handed save. Maiana hit back on the counter attack 73 minutes into the game with a free kick. Initially it seemed wasted, hit wide towards the wing. But there was an idea to it - the ball was then crossed towards L. Poldrugač, who was waiting for it in the box. That's 3 - 2! Don't forget to thank the set pieces coach for that idea! Although the whole team were struggling to impress, FC Thun 09's T. Ploeger was singled out as being the problem as he was called off the pitch after 75 minutes. D. Hansson was given a chance to change things around. Coming through the middle C. Mans almost scored the equaliser for FC Thun 09 after 76 minutes, but S. Magri made an excellent save, tipping the awkwardly curled shot past the post. Maiana's M. Kölliker had an excellent opportunity after 77 minutes, shooting after receiving a pass from the right hand side, but he missed the goal by miles! FC Thun 09's right side looked dangerous 78 minutes in, but S. Magri made a good save on V. Darré's hard shot to the top corner. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by FC Thun 09, with 53 percent of the ball.

The most dominating Maiana player was without a doubt M. Kölliker. S. Magri was a disappointment, however. FC Thun 09's best player was J. Keneshlu. K. Khattab turned in a dismal performance, however. The match ends 3 - 2.