Challenge

Serce Łodzi
Spectators: 40 (Terracing: 31, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Erubiel Justin started the match with the kick off. An unexpectedly hard shot by Alberto Tafalla in the 4th minute of play forced ◄19A10► Widzew Łódź's goalkeeper Meelis Vananurm to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Dante Lacasa was a little too slow when Marcelo Abreu got a fine hit on the ball which went right into the goal in the 6th minute. The score was now 1-0. Dante Lacasa showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Maicon Pontes in the 11th minute of the match. ◄19A10► Widzew Łódź's Meelis Vananurm played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Lautaro Mancebo in the 12th minute of play. After 13 minutes ◄19A10► Widzew Łódź's defender was forced to head the ball over the line for a corner. It was Joel Gaona who took care of the corner kick. It was a well-played corner which Luca Zorita managed to volley towards the net. Unfortunately, he didn't get a great hit on the ball and it went out into the grandstand. If Erubiel Justin had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 18th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. After 24 minutes, Maicon Pontes made it 2-0 with a short kick to the right side. Mexico's Dante Lacasa tried to save the shot but he was too slow in reacting to the shot. In the 31st minute of the match, Marcelo Abreu tried to roll the ball into the goal by the right post, but Dante Lacasa saw his intentions and got control of the ball before it passed the line. After having played for 40 minutes, Alberto Tafalla managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Mexico's supporters crossed their fingers, but Alberto Tafalla was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. Meelis Vananurm made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Joel Gaona in the 44th minute of play. In the 46th minute Alberto Tafalla shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Meelis Vananurm saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Alberto Tafalla's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Meelis Vananurm read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 47th minute of play. The away team players looked dejected as the walked off the pitch at half time. They had fought hard, but were still losing 2-1.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Joel Gaona stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. Alberto Tafalla received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 51st minute. Meelis Vananurm tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. In the 53rd minute, Maicon Pontes ran past the defenders and hit a shot which went straight ahead into goal. Dante Lacasa was frozen by the shot and now it was 3-1. Meelis Vananurm took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Joel Gaona, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. A collision led to ◄19A10► Widzew Łódź getting a freekick after 57 minutes play. Slawomir Tyskie hit a great ball. In the 60th match minute, Mexico was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Alberto Tafalla to maneuver through the defense. Lautaro Mancebo received a nice pass in the box and took a hard shot in the 63rd minute. Meelis Vananurm tensed up and prepared to dive, but the shot went over the goal with him having to interfere. If Joel Gaona had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 67th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. In the 72nd minute, Gani Rikap hit a crossing free kick to the open man running down the field. An unexpectedly hard shot by Alberto Tafalla in the 73rd minute of play forced ◄19A10► Widzew Łódź's goalkeeper Meelis Vananurm to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Dante Lacasa made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Maicon Pontes in the 74th minute of play. After some fancy dribbling in the 76th minute, Joel Gaona managed to get in a good position for a shot. Mexico's supporters rose to their feet, but Joel Gaona was a bit off balance and shot the ball just wide of the left post. Meelis Vananurm breathed a sigh of relief and went to take the goal kick. Alberto Tafalla's shot was meant for the net just under the crossbar, but Meelis Vananurm read the situation well and was quickly in position to make a wonderful save in the 82nd minute of play. The audience was convinced that Erubiel Justin's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Dante Lacasa was relentless in the 85th minute of the game. After a defensive mix-up in ◄19A10► Widzew Łódź's zone, Facundo Cadaval stole the ball and had only the goalie to beat. Meelis Vananurm came out of the goal and Facundo Cadaval tried to chip the ball over his head. To his dismay, the ball went over the crossbar and out of play. 90 minutes into the match, Mexico's goal looked a bit too open when Lindi Mena came free, but Dante Lacasa reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Dante Lacasa showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Maicon Pontes in the 91st minute of the match. Dante Lacasa showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Lindi Mena, who was totally free with the ball in the 93rd minute. Facundo Cadaval sent away a hard shot on goal in the 96th minute, but the ball went just over the crossbar and out. A very good chance. The ◄19A10► Widzew Łódź players were eager to celebrate when the final whistle sounded. They had somehow managed to win, even though the away team had held the majority of the possession.