Demolidor 3 - 1 Phantoms (391539587)

Due to an all-day shower, 33248 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at Demolidor Arena. Hansjürg Künzli was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Gaston Bachtold and Marko Sretenovic. Demolidor decided to use a 4-5-1 set up. The following players took the field: García - Gius, Keesey, Radin, Carrilho - Aurbach, Gobbi, Pimentel, Škerijanc, Beertens - Ütücü.

Phantoms had chosen a strategic 2-5-3 formation. Starters: Santamaría - Larre, Delgado - de Sousa, Cunha, Lamers, Sinning, Manzo - Matta, Capoeira, Paiva Leite.

Phantoms saw most attack opportunities on the wings. J. Cunha spent most of the time in a heap on the ground today, his normally rapid movement hindered by the slippery pitch. L. Larre came close to putting the visiting team one up 26 minutes into the match, following a solo raid down the middle, but G. García managed to tip the ball to a corner. With 37 minutes played A. Pimentel almost gave the home side the lead with an unexpected free kick set up, but the visitors' C. Santamaría was onto it, grabbing the would be breakthrough ball. Phantoms's L. Manzo was dominating his wing and kept sending fine balls into the opposition's box - J. Matta managed to volley one of them into the net to make it 0 - 1 after 38 minutes. Some fine passing in the middle of the pitch, carving open the away defence, should have led to a goal for Demolidor, but E. Beertens's shot went over the bar. It was 0 - 1 at the break. Possession in this half belonged to Phantoms, who controlled the ball 51 percent of the time.

Just a few inches to the right, and the visitors could have had a goal 52 minutes into the match. M. Delgado surely wishes he could do that free kick over again. After 79 minutes, A. Pimentel sent the corner kick right to E. Carrilho who headed it sharply past the keeper. 1 - 1! P. Gius caused the crowd to go mental with his goal up the middle after 82 minutes. This gave Demolidor the 2 - 1 lead. After 82 minutes of the match, the manager still hoped to turn things around. J. Cunha was ordered to assume a different position on the pitch. He took the place of U. Sinning, who in turn replaced his team mate. The Phantoms coach was desperate to reverse his team's fortunes in the game, and ordered his team to change strategy. Having been awarded a free kick in an awkward position after 88 minutes, Demolidor did not go for a shot but instead fired the ball hard into the 6 yard box. After a brief tussle with his marker, H. Keesey was able to power the ball past the keeper to make the score 3 - 1. As the game started to slip away for Phantoms, the manager decided to change the tactical approach. After 89 minutes, Phantoms used a short break in the game to take new instructions from their coach. The bench was restless, and with 89 minutes passed Phantoms's coach gave L. Bermudez the opportunity the player had been hoping for. J. Paiva Leite reluctantly left the field. Demolidor enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 51 percent of possession.

Most important Demolidor player was G. García. On the other hand, P. Aurbach's play was disheartening. Phantoms's best player was U. Sinning. C. Santamaría on the other hand, had a terrible day. The match ends 3 - 1.