HotStreak 5 - 3 Palyo (369403935)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 69682 had shown up at The Hot Spot for the match. Kristoffer Vada was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Mats Colsjö and Roli Malcuit. HotStreak started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Arce - Leclerc, Mpachramis, Matei - Bilon, Ahonzo, Bruna, Turjeman, Lehtinen - Badea, Woringer.

Palyo decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. Starters: Tempelhoff - Antonijević, Ritamäki, Ulfsson, Ustups - Akerboom, Olgun, Käki, Aloisi - Marbœuf, Göçmen.

Palyo clearly had decided to counter-attack when they could. After a fine move down the middle A. Badea nearly gave the home side a goal after 12 minutes. However the finishing shot went just wide. After 13 minutes, a well-worked counterattack by Palyo on the right presented an easy opportunity in front of the goal that was duly converted by S. Göçmen to make it 0 - 1. HotStreak's K. Turjeman almost tied things up with 30 minutes played after breaking through on the right, but his shot deflected off the post. K. Akerboom made a nice dash down the wing after 36 minutes, but was unable to get the cross into the box. A goal kick was awarded. After 39 minutes, A. Badea got through on the right and was very close to equalising for the home side, but didn't get the shot away. HotStreak's M. Arce refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 40 minutes. P. Ulfsson finished off the counterattack of Palyo from the left rather easily, making the score 0 - 2. Proving his experience, A. Badea scored 1 - 2 for HotStreak after putting some pressure on the opposing defence at a critical moment. G. Woringer's lightning pace was too much for P. Ulfsson who could only look on as the HotStreak player blasted one home. 2 - 2. The home side put themselves ahead 3 - 2 after 44 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from G. Woringer, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing. Halftime score was 3 - 2. Possession in this half belonged to HotStreak, who controlled the ball 62 percent of the time.

As the game started to slip away for Palyo, the manager decided to change the tactical approach. Unhappy with the result so far in the game, the Palyo manager used a brief break in play after 46 minutes to give the players new directives. Palyo had a great opportunity to score following a counterattack after 57 minutes, but K. Akerboom's shot from the left sailed high over the bar. The bench was restless, and with 65 minutes passed Palyo's coach gave C. Esseni the opportunity the player had been hoping for. A. Käki reluctantly left the field. After 70 minutes, Palyo switched S. Göçmen with H. Rageor, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. 84 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as G. Bilon broke through, making the score 4 - 2 for HotStreak. G. Woringer wanted to play on, but the HotStreak coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 84 minutes into the game by S. Sahlsten. As the match clock hit 84 minutes, HotStreak regrouped to try and keep their initiative in the game. S. Sahlsten high-fived K. Turjeman as they swapped positions on the team. Palyo managed to reduce the score to 4 - 3 as K. Akerboom finished off a well-played combination from the left, easily carving through the defence. After 88 minutes, speedy G. Bilon dashed past his marker, making plenty of room for the second wave of attack. However, A. Badea failed to score. A. Badea increased the lead for HotStreak to 5 - 3, getting a head onto a hooked ball from the right. The ball looked to have taken a deflection on the way in, but he's claiming it! HotStreak had most of the ball, with 69 percent of possession.

HotStreak's best player was A. Badea. F. Leclerc on the other hand, had a terrible day. The most dominating Palyo player was without a doubt H. Rageor. P. Ulfsson was a disappointment, however. The match ends 5 - 3.