United 2 - 5 Craiova (379185699)

2104 spectators arrived at New Burnden Park, where weather conditions were pretty good for football. Sibrand van Baren was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Sebastian Botor and Ralph Bon Nielsen. United tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Starters: Patchell - Tokal, Zübert, Trichias - Porcu, Tulej, Benjaminsen, Noyola, Quinton - Galinovskiy, Moore.

A 2-5-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Craiova. They fielded: Kostov - Zahiu, Kruglyanskiy - Moulin, Ţăran, Mészáros, Mehdiyev, Rangsdorf - Misiano, van der Wilt, Heijman.

United were mostly trying to use their skill at attacking on the flanks. The home crowd was not impressed by the fancy moves of Craiova's F. Kruglyanskiy after 2 minutes. He converted a pass from the left for a goal, resulting in the visitors taking the 0 - 1 lead. United's E. Galinovskiy put his head to a high ball coming in from the right after 14 minutes, but the ball went wide. Craiova's C. Misiano got himself booked for a foul. United's D. Porcu went down after a savage challenge, but could continue playing after some medical attention. United's D. Quinton excelled in some fine tricks that completely confused H. Mehdiyev - and the finish was no less spectacular - 1 - 1! Craiova's H. van der Wilt managed to lose the defenders as he advanced down the right wing and scored, putting the visitors ahead after 27 minutes. 1 - 2. Attacking on the wings was the choice for United, and they were successfully passing the ball from the middle to the wings to attack. After a fatal mistake from the away team's right side defence 32 minutes into the match, an alert L. Trichias bagged the ball for United, levelling the score to 2 - 2. The teams went for the halftime break at 2 - 2. Possession in this half belonged to Craiova, who controlled the ball 65 percent of the time.

H. van der Wilt delivered a good free kick from an excellent position 51 minutes into the game, but luck wasn't on Craiova's side this time and the ball went wide. Some good play on the left wing created an opportunity for the visitors 51 minutes into the match, and M. Rangsdorf wasn't about to let it go by. He got past the defenders and fired a shot that the keeper just missed. 2 - 3 for the visitors. H. Mehdiyev was, after 57 minutes, almost able to extend the visitors' lead with a well placed diving header after the ball had looped into the centre, but the home side's keeper B. Patchell made the save. United's D. Quinton refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 66 minutes. With 68 minutes played, the United coach decided a substitution may help turn the game around. G. Zuurbier came on, C. Moore had to leave the fray. United needed a fresh pair of legs on the field, and after 71 minutes C. Zübert made way for G. Muskoff. After 71 minutes, Craiova's D. Ţăran burst through the central defence and let loose a cannonball of a shot, scoring for 2 - 4. 73 minutes into the game, Craiova were awarded a penalty and H. van der Wilt was able to increase the visitors' lead to 2 - 5 rolling the ball in by the right post. At this point, it was obvious that the players of Craiova lowered the tempo and became more defensively oriented. With 79 minutes played, G. Zahiu of Craiova fell dramatically just outside the penalty area. However, the referee was unimpressed, and booked him for diving. Craiova had most of the ball, with 69 percent of possession.

United's best player was G. Muskoff. On the other hand, G. Tokal's play was disheartening. The most dominating Craiova player was without a doubt J. Mészáros. F. Kruglyanskiy was a disappointment, however. The match ends 2 - 5.