ArtPa 7 - 1 united (369768081)

Due to an all-day shower, 20390 paying spectators got to see a match on a pitch-turned-bog at A-StaDioN. Gwenaël Chevrel was the appointed referee with assistance provided by Antoni Gmiter and Twan Reitsma. ArtPa started off with a 3-5-2 lineup. The following players took the field: Käpyaho - Pletcher, Toskas, Pinon - Andie Jensen, Frouws, Mutlu, Rzońca, Mankó - Qaramyan, Skals Jensen.

united decided to use a 4-4-2 set up. Lineup: Rantee - Astala, Brygger, Spasić, Smirnov - Puistonen, Salanne, Kinosmaa, Kämi - Riestola, Nietula.

Today, united's strategy involved concentrating on the flanks for their attacks. The home side put themselves ahead 1 - 0 after 17 minutes courtesy of a breakthrough from F. Skals Jensen, who scored with a stunning volley following a cross from the right wing. united had to make a substitution after 24 minutes. M. Astala limped off the field and was replaced by R. Hauhia. After 36 minutes, ArtPa were awarded a free kick. Rather than shooting straight at goal, the taker went for an indirect variant which seemed to take his team mates a bit by surprise. N. Toskas did attempt a finish, but from an awkward position, sending the ball into the away fans. united's R. Hauhia refused to leave the field after injuring his achilles tendon after 39 minutes. A well placed corner kick from J. Kinosmaa was followed by R. Hauhia's hard but accurate header. The well executed routine resulted in a goal for united, the score now 1 - 1. 42 minutes into the match and the home team took a 2 - 1 lead after breaking through on the left. The scorer for ArtPa was F. Skals Jensen. P. Ruti was called on to replace united's J. Nietula after 43 minutes following a nasty collision. With 44 minutes played, ArtPa put themselves up 3 - 1 when the visiting defenders lost the ball to G. Qaramyan, who came up from the left and proceeded to coolly round the keeper and knock the ball home. 3 - 1 was the score after the first half. ArtPa enjoyed most of the ball, as they maintained 78 percent of possession.

Cheers filled the stadium as N. Toskas broke through the visitors' central defence to put away the ball to increase the lead to 4 - 1 to ArtPa. The players of ArtPa now seemed to think the job was done and acted more defensively, just waiting for the ref to blow the final whistle. N. Toskas didn't let the weather get him down and made some great moves on the pitch in spite of the rain. Having been awarded a free kick in an awkward position after 68 minutes, ArtPa did not go for a shot but instead fired the ball hard into the 6 yard box. After a brief tussle with his marker, G. Qaramyan was able to power the ball past the keeper to make the score 5 - 1. C. Mutlu should probably have put his team up another goal after 78 minutes, but some great goalkeeping by S. Rantee kept the visitors in the game. 79 minutes into the match, the visitors' central line of defence had to look on as F. Skals Jensen broke through, making the score 6 - 1 for ArtPa. That made three goals for F. Skals Jensen and he was marked down for the hat trick. ArtPa solidified their lead at the 81 minute mark, as J. Mankó dribbled the ball through the opposing central defence and scored to make it 7 - 1. G. Qaramyan wanted to play on, but the ArtPa coach had other ideas, and he was replaced 85 minutes into the game by K. Götte. Possession in this half belonged to ArtPa, who controlled the ball 84 percent of the time.

Most important ArtPa player was K. Götte. P. Pinon turned in a dismal performance, however. The most dominating united player was without a doubt J. Kinosmaa. On the other hand, S. Rantee's play was disheartening. The match ends 7 - 1.