Bracelona 2 - 3 Ventanielles (382899907)

Overcast weather free of rain made for a crowd turnout of 45145 at Cramp Nou today. André Quental was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Ottokar Bergemann and Jukka Piirala. A 3-4-3 alignment was the formation of choice for Bracelona. The following players had been chosen: Mulazzani - Zahel, Bros, Olofsson - 聰貴 (Conggui), Głogowski, Varona, George - Koloh, Zumárraga, Narváez.

Ventanielles started off with a 4-4-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Hoyos - Tapia, Freixes, Arbelo, Ciobanu - Arburua, Mercadé, Amboaxe, Beloso - Lamela, Fenech.

Bracelona tried to focus their attacks down the middle. One of many good crosses from I. Arburua on the wing was received and skillfully taken care of by H. Lamela, who scored for Ventanielles. 0 - 1 The visitors nearly scored again after 15 minutes, but a superb save by R. Mulazzani kept I. Arburua's free kick out of the net. Bracelona's A. Zumárraga refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 19 minutes. The Bracelona free kick 26 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 E. Olofsson, who was completely unmarked in the box. That's 1 - 1! A lovely run by Ventanielles's I. Arburua left his markers for dead and should have resulted in a goal, but the finish went just wide. A mistake by the home side's central defence after 39 minutes allowed H. Lamela to score for Ventanielles. The scoreboard now read 1 - 2. G. Koloh made a superb strike after 40 minutes with a shot straight in front of the goal after a long ball through the middle, but one of the visitors' defenders got a foot in at the last second and warded it off for a corner. 1 - 2 was the score after the first half. Bracelona had most of the ball, with 54 percent of possession.

H. Lamela received a delicate pass through the home side's central defence after 51 minutes, and chipped it past the flailing keeper to score making it 1 - 3. The Ventanielles fans went wild, whilst the home fans started to think about leaving early. At that, H. Lamela was noted down for a hat trick! Some things can only be learned through experience, and H. Tapia should take his lesson to heart after nearly gifting Bracelona a goal with 57 minutes of the match played. The home side worked their way through the middle and almost got one back when A. Bros tried to sneak the ball past the keeper. C. Hoyos was too alert for that! After 60 minutes, Bracelona switched M. George with A. Lesnevskis, hoping for a quick impact on the pitch. The bench was restless, and with 60 minutes passed Bracelona's coach gave D. Winkler the opportunity the player had been hoping for. A. Zumárraga reluctantly left the field. Bracelona players heard their coach's words ringing in their ears and steered their wing attacks to the middle instead. E. Olofsson challenged the visitors' central defence eagerly, producing a good chance 68 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. The local team's free kick specialist M. Varona, reduced the away team's lead to 2 - 3 with a humdinger of a shot after 69 minutes. P. Arbelo 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 R. Mulazzani but overcooked it and hit the bar instead. F. Fenech wanted to play on, but the Ventanielles coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 74 minutes into the game by R. Barrado. Neither team were able to dominate possession this half.

M. Varona performed admirably for Bracelona. J. Zahel turned in a dismal performance, however. The most dominating Ventanielles player was without a doubt H. Lamela. However, H. Tapia made a disastrous appearance. The match ends 2 - 3.