STEMCELLS 3 - 1 Girona (382886899)

The weather was pretty good, and a crowd of 49547 had shown up at Estadio de la Esperanza for the match. Roberto Serio was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Paul Cossey and Tibo Coppens. STEMCELLS tactics involved an interesting 3-5-2 combination. Lineup: Marín - Gil de Gibaja, Elgucena, Regadas - Peña, García, Queirón, Vélez, Perales - Fišer, Risca.

A 4-4-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Girona. Starters: Chunta - Galán, Direnç, Solar, Díaz-Aguado - Cividás, Bou, Lejón, Háša - Aparacio, Jaúrigui.

Some great play up the middle by STEMCELLS led to a chance for R. Perales to score after 17 minutes, but the shot hit the crossbar. A corner kick created great disorder in the penalty area with a goal nearly scored by I. García. At last, STEMCELLS's R. Perales was able to backheel the ball in. 1 - 0. With 24 minutes played, STEMCELLS put themselves up 2 - 0 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to E. Risca, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home. E. Risca could have put STEMCELLS up one more, but he fired into the side netting after breaking free on the left after 36 minutes. It was 2 - 0 at the break. STEMCELLS enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 75 percent of possession.

Coming from the right, R. Perales almost managed to score another goal for STEMCELLS, but his header was tipped over the bar by the visitors' keeper. F. Unzueta was called on to replace STEMCELLS's P. Elgucena after 65 minutes following a nasty collision. The opposing supporters gave the referee an earful when he only gave F. Unzueta from STEMCELLS a yellow card after a mistimed challenge from behind 74 minutes into the game. That was far too lenient! 77 minutes in, Girona's B. Cividás received a yellow card for going into a challenge studs first. After 80 minutes, E. Risca put STEMCELLS ahead 3 - 0 when he rose to head in a cross from the right wing. There was concern in the stands when, at the 81 minute mark, Girona's E. Direnç hit the ground hard, but he refused the attention of the trainer and rejoined his teammates on the pitch. H. Peña had a fantastic opportunity to put STEMCELLS up another goal 82 minutes into the match, but he fired just over the crossbar. D. Jaúrigui was first to reach a ball launched long through the center from Girona's defence 83 minutes into the game. He managed to keep his cool and beat the goalkeeper to make the score 3 - 1. Content with how the game was proceeding, the STEMCELLS coach let G. Danguso replace I. García after 85 minutes. STEMCELLS claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 74 percent.

Most important STEMCELLS player was E. Risca. F. Unzueta was a disappointment, however. Girona's top performer was clearly R. Aparacio. On the other hand, E. Direnç's play was disheartening. The match ends 3 - 1.