League

Tafos Indou Arena
Spectators: 9225 (Terracing: 6920, Seating: 2122, VIP seats: 183) Dark clouds were building up when the players entered the field. None of the them looked very eager to play. Kunga King started the match with the kick off. In the 2nd minute, Carles Pujol made a precise shot to the right of Niculae Ailenei. Bazellatin F.C.'s defense was at fault, and the scoreboard reflected the new score, 0-1. In the 6th minute of the match Mean Machine got a corner. Bazellatin F.C.'s goalie ran out to the linesman to protest the call, but the linesman resolutely pointed his flag at the cornerflag. Nikos Stasinos ran over to the corner to take the kick. The supporters of Bazellatin F.C. booed when Mean Machine was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 8 match minutes in a wonderful position. Carles Pujol didn't get a good kick on the ball. After some careless play in the Mean Machine defense, Kunga King kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Menios Chloros. The Mean Machine fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Menios Chloros should have stopped the shot. Niculae Ailenei showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Carles Pujol in the 24th minute of the match. In the 28th minute Miltos Makris shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Niculae Ailenei saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. Niculae Ailenei made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Nedim Emekli in the 35th minute of play. Niculae Ailenei stood for a superb save when he managed to get hold of Nedim Emekli's shot from short distance in the 36th minute. 38 minutes into the match, Bazellatin F.C.'s goal looked a bit too open when Carles Pujol came free, but Niculae Ailenei reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. Daniil Bonoris hit a great freekick 40 minutes into the match. Menios Chloros made a fantastic save in the 41st minute, when Kunga King sent off a good shot on target. Mean Machine's Nikos Stasinos quite brazenly broke a throw-in by Demis Poulkos, made in the 43rd minute of the game. In the 44th minute, Nedim Emekli left the goalkeeper for dead before tapping the ball into the right side of the net. The Mean Machine fans were clearly happy with the effort and the scoreboard reflected the new score: 1-2. After the first half Mean Machine were leading 1-2. They had played with great self confidence throughout the first half and fully deserved their lead.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Nedim Emekli stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. Bazellatin F.C.'s Niculae Ailenei proved his good apprehension of play when he, in the 53rd minute of the match, managed to save Bazellatin F.C. from getting a goal against them. Menios Chloros made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Kunga King in the 55th minute of play. In the 60th match minute, Bazellatin F.C. was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Ronald de Boer to maneuver through the defense. The audience was convinced that Kunga King's extremely hard shot when he got free in front of the goal was going in, but Menios Chloros was relentless in the 64th minute of the game. Menios Chloros made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Kunga King in the 65th minute of play. Thanks to some nice foot action and superb ball handling Kunga King in the 66th minute a chance for a shot on goal. With an extended leg and a bit of luck Menios Chloros prevented the ball from getting in the gole. Niculae Ailenei took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Miltos Makris, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Niculae Ailenei was out of position in the 67 minute of play, and Miltos Makris capitalized on the mistake with a soft shot into the goal. Miltos Makris really showed his touch with that goal: 1-3. Bazellatin F.C. made a substitution. Dimosthenis Tsimilis replaced Marty Bettney. Mean Machine's Nikos Kioupouroglou was substituted for Miltos Makris. Mean Machine's Luca Milivojević was substituted for Lakis Mantarinakis. Bernardino Abastas hit a great freekick 71 minutes into the match. In the 73rd minute the ball was on its way in behind Bazellatin F.C.'s goalkeeper Niculae Ailenei, but with the help of a sacrificing defense, he could catch the ball at the crossbar. Mean Machine's attacker deliberately struck the ball against an opponent to win a corner for his team. The corner was taken by Nikos Stasinos in the 74th minute. Bazellatin F.C.'s Niculae Ailenei played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Nedim Emekli in the 78th minute of play. An unexpectedly hard shot by Rafael Maria Píriz in the 84th minute of play forced Mean Machine's goalkeeper Menios Chloros to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Nedim Emekli could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 90th minute of the match, but Niculae Ailenei made a huge save. In the 94th minute Stelios Tavoularis shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Menios Chloros saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 96 minutes into the match, Stelios Tavoularis notched a goal, 2-3, to the right of Mean Machine's Menios Chloros. Menios Chloros was clearly disgusted with the effort of the defense and let the defenders know about it. The referee blew the final whistle, and the away crowd roared, having watched Mean Machine eke out a victory against a very well matched opponent.