Pizza 2 - 5 bannati (377596611)

A scorching day at Guido D'ippolito, where 1043 spectators were in place for today's match. Ante Šlafhauzer was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Jani Finskas and Sören Klinkusch. The match took place on neutral ground. Pizza had chosen a strategic 3-4-3 formation. They fielded: Paolini - Mendrino, Caridi, Zanatta - Voccoli, Ruggerone, Termali, Gosmar - Musarella, Fumarola, Pistarà.

bannati started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players had been chosen: Peludo - Cifre, Elbæk, Mpasinas - Poulin, Briquet, Knetzes, Roininen, Thieleke - Jolie, Rossi.

The goal for 1 - 0 was a funny story: after 10 minutes the seemingly nonchalant lob from Pizza's C. Ruggerone landed at the feet of G. Pistarà who sidefooted it into the net - nice goal! After 36 minutes, the visitors tied it up at 1 - 1 when a fantastic pass from the left was finished off by M. Elbæk. bannati's T. Knetzes had to watch the rest of the game from the sidelines, after twisting his ankle with 37 minutes having been played. H. Capanema was the replacement. 40 minutes into the game, S. Jolie had a great chance to put his team ahead, but his kick from the left went wide. bannati's M. Elbæk gave the visitors a 1 - 2 lead after 42 minutes with a superb strike from the right. Pizza's G. Mendrino was shown a yellow card after 43 minutes for slicing down an opponent. bannati increased their lead after 44 minutes when S. Jolie broke through on the right, upping the score to 1 - 3, much to the home crowd's dismay. With 44 minutes played, J. Thieleke nearly put the visitors another one up as he broke through in the middle and fired from just outside the box, but his shot passed just over the bar. The teams went for the halftime break at 1 - 3. Possession in this half belonged to bannati, who controlled the ball 65 percent of the time.

The bench was restless, and with 46 minutes passed Pizza's coach gave O. Lizza the opportunity the player had been hoping for. S. Voccoli reluctantly left the field. Pizza needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 46 minutes N. Zanatta made way for C. Mastrosimone. D. Briquet increased the visitors' lead by putting a volley away after a pass from the right. 1 - 4. The players of bannati now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. K. Mpasinas wasn't much help defensively. His energy-consuming forward runs proved quite costly in the oppressive heat. Had it not been for one of the home defenders, V. Cifre would have put bannati up another goal 66 minutes into the match with his audacious lob from the right wing. C. Mastrosimone challenged the visitors' central defence eagerly, producing a good chance 71 minutes into the game as he went for a through ball. But, as so many times before, the guests' defensive efforts got the best of it. Pizza supporters cheered as good work down the right got the ball to C. Mastrosimone who reduced the visitors' lead after 75 minutes to 2 - 4. The referee showed Pizza's M. Caridi the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. In a fantastic display of determination, bannati's V. Cifre forced himself to his feet, after an opponent viciously knocked him down. C. Rossi came close to extending the visitors' lead when he found himself completely unmarked in front of the goal after a pass through the middle. He tried to lift the ball over M. Paolini but overcooked it and hit the bar instead. After 81 minutes, bannati's H. Capanema burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 2 - 5. Possession in the forty-five minutes was dominated by bannati, with 65 percent of the ball.

Pizza's top performer was clearly D. Fumarola. S. Musarella turned in a dismal performance, however. S. Jolie performed admirably for bannati. However, R. Peludo made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 5.