husslage 4 - 4 Pjerdol (390265231)

Weather conditions were fairly good for football, and husslage Arena saw a crowd turnout of 27164. Tue Provst was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Horst-Werner von Guericke and Joël von Allmen. The derby had been the talk of Rotterdam all week and fans of both teams could be seen throughout the stadium. husslage decided to use a 3-4-3 set up. The following players took the field: Tornero - Rotacher, Aannevik, Vasallo - Menken, Henriksson, Ørmen, Seisdedos - Sagna, Belardo, Bigus.

A 3-5-2 alignment was the formation of choice for Pjerdol. They fielded: Toverud - Becker, Karakoca, Zifla - Illán, Vermeeren, Arkema, Kooiman, Tufariello - Bruinsma, Mondonico.

husslage seemed to prefer attacking in the middle. Today, Pjerdol's strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. Some quick footwork on the left side of the field 11 minutes into the match left Pjerdol's B. Becker completely free to score. 0 - 1 for the visitors. After 21 minutes, Pjerdol raised their score by one when T. Illán's dangerous low cross was cleverly tucked in at the near post by M. Bruinsma. 0 - 2. Central attacks were the recipe of the day for husslage, as they moved the ball from the wings to the middle with startling regularity. husslage's L. Bigus cut towards the middle after 22 minutes, receiving a brilliant pass and slicing through the visiting team's central defence, reducing the lead to 1 - 2. Pjerdol's A. Tufariello got himself booked for a foul. N. Mondonico was the first to reach the corner kick, but his header was blocked by the keeper. However, Pjerdol's M. Zifla managed to get hold of the rebound and tucked the ball into the empty net. 1 - 3 husslage's fans were urging them forward as they tried to get back into the game, and their vocal support was rewarded 37 minutes into the match as M. Sagna ran onto a beautiful ball played through the visitors' defence and slotted it past the keeper to reduce the deficit. 2 - 3. 2 - 3 was the halftime score. Possession in this half belonged to Pjerdol, who controlled the ball 56 percent of the time.

63 minutes into the match, B. Becker came through the middle and almost added to his team's lead, but the shot went wide. 64 minutes into the game, Pjerdol were awarded a penalty and T. Illán was able to increase the visitors' lead to 2 - 4 rolling the ball in by the right post. The home team's supporters got excited again when M. Sagna broke through the visitors' central defence and caught their keeper off guard, making it 3 - 4. The referee showed Pjerdol's M. Vermeeren the yellow card after a particularly nasty challenge. Having been awarded a free kick in an awkward position after 71 minutes, husslage did not go for a shot but instead fired the ball hard into the 6 yard box. After a brief tussle with his marker, M. Sagna was able to power the ball past the keeper to make the score 4 - 4. At that, M. Sagna was noted down for a hat trick! Pjerdol claimed to have seen most of the ball, and the statistics agreed with them - possession being 55 percent.

L. Bigus performed admirably for husslage. However, R. Rotacher made a disastrous appearance. Pjerdol's top performer was clearly E. Karakoca. On the other hand, M. Zifla's play was disheartening. The match ends 4 - 4.