Friendly League

Rodrigo Braña
Spectators: 35 (Terracing: 27, Seating: 8, VIP seats: 0) Ascacibar-Pérez's Martín Palermo started the match with a crisp pass. The crowd had been anticipating this game for weeks and the excitement in the stadium was easily visible. An unexpectedly hard shot by Gustavo-Hernán Egoi in the 3rd minute of play forced Ascacibar-Pérez's goalkeeper Einar Holmberg to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. A collision led to Ascacibar-Pérez getting a freekick after 4 minutes play. Erasmo Clis hit a great ball. The audience was convinced that Gustavo-Hernán Egoi's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Einar Holmberg was relentless in the 13th minute of the game. Einar Holmberg didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Pedro Ochoa went, in the 19th minute, to the upper right corner, 0-1 was the resulting score. Octavio Chale made in the 24th minute of the game a throw-in that took a bad bounce and was taken care of by Sportivo Smirnoff Vodka's Rauno Rank. In the 26th match minute, Ascacibar-Pérez was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Marcelino Txurio to maneuver through the defense. Einar Holmberg came out of the goal in the 27th minute to try and stop a shot by Sportivo Smirnoff Vodka's Gustavo-Hernán Egoi. But to his dismay, Gustavo-Hernán Egoi quickly shot the ball in between his legs and into the goal making it 0-2. Einar Holmberg made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Gustavo-Hernán Egoi in the 32nd minute of play. Martín Palermo sent away a hard shot on goal in the 33rd minute, but the ball hit the crossbar and went out. A very good chance for a goal. In the 36th minute Gustavo-Hernán Egoi shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Einar Holmberg saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. A sloppy throw-in by Casimiro Santana in the 38th minute of the game went astray and was snapped up by Sportivo Smirnoff Vodka's Wilfredo Bieito. After 39 played minutes Sportivo Smirnoff Vodka got a freekick which was hit by Wilfredo Bieito. Kepa Arrizabalaga made a fantastic save in the 41st minute, when Marcelino Txurio sent off a good shot on target. The throw-in from Iker Eneko in the 43rd minute of the game was unfortunally taken care of by Ascacibar-Pérez's Erubiel Dalmu. Disappointed in the 0-2 score, the home team went to the dressing room to adjust tactics for the second half.

The wind increased when Pedro Ochoa made the kick off in the second half. Einar Holmberg showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Pedro Ochoa, who was totally free with the ball in the 55th minute. When Gustavo-Hernán Egoi came up free with the goalie in the 57th minute, the Sportivo Smirnoff Vodka fans jumped to their feet. But the shot missed the goal by a fraction of an inch, and the fans sat back down disappointed that Gustavo-Hernán Egoi couldn't finish the play. 64 minutes into the match, Martín Palermo had an open shot that he just couldn't miss and scored to the right of Kepa Arrizabalaga. Sportivo Smirnoff Vodka's manager could be seen yelling to the referee that Martín Palermo was offside, but the referee ignored the protest. 2-2. Sportivo Smirnoff Vodka made a substitution. Leon Trotskiy replaced Iker Eneko. With a couple of smart ball manuevers Martín Palermo in the 82nd managed to get into a good position. With a left leg Kepa Arrizabalaga saved Sportivo Smirnoff Vodka from getting behind. Casimiro Santana kicked well hit freekick during the 85th minute of the match. Einar Holmberg made an important save on a dangerous shot by Gustavo-Hernán Egoi in the 90th minute. An unexpectedly hard shot by Gustavo-Hernán Egoi in the 91st minute of play forced Ascacibar-Pérez's goalkeeper Einar Holmberg to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. An unexpectedly hard shot by Ke Xun in the 94th minute of play forced Ascacibar-Pérez's goalkeeper Einar Holmberg to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. The away crowd were delighted with the way their team had played and cheered loudly when the final whistle sounded. Sportivo Smirnoff Vodka walked away with the win, even though the match was close until the end.