Challenge

Claudio D. Borghi
Spectators: 39 (Terracing: 30, Seating: 9, VIP seats: 0) It was fairly windy and cold on the field when Diego Gonzales kicked off to start the match. In the 3rd match minute, Argentinos Juniors was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Sven de Zwaan to maneuver through the defense. Petruț Fințescu who was well placed in front of the goal fired away a dangerous shot that in the 5thth minute tested the skills of Patrick Armstrong when he managed to save the team from getting behind. 1-0 became the score in the 8th minute when Diego Gonzales elegantly shot the ball into goal just under the crossbar. Patrick Armstrong showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Denis Mero in the 12th minute of the match. Patrick Armstrong made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Diego Gonzales in the 15th minute of play. Denis Mero received a nice pass, split the defenders, and ran untouched towards the goal. Patrick Armstrong came out and tried to block the shot, but Denis Mero slotted it home off the left post making it 2-0 in the 19th minute. Patrick Armstrong took care of the ball after a well-directed shot from Diego Gonzales, even though the ball almost passed him on his left side. Argentinos Juniors's Denis Mero got a good chance for a goal in the 26th minute, but he totally mistimed the shot and it went over the crossbar. An unexpectedly hard shot by Peter Linkhorst in the 30th minute of play forced Argentinos Juniors's goalkeeper Rigoberto Nazario to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Patrick Armstrong showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Diego Gonzales in the 31st minute of the match. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Adrian Våleman during the 34th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. After 34 played minutes ManagerZone Crew got a freekick which was hit by Adrian Våleman. Diego Gonzales fired away a screaming shot towards the goal in the 39th minute, but the shot went just over the crossbar without Patrick Armstrong having to interfere. Patrick Armstrong made an important save on a dangerous shot by Leon Richie in the 45th minute. When the referee blew for the end of the half the home team players were clearly happier, as they went in to the break leading 2-1.

The players of the away team seemed most concentrated when Peter Linkhorst stepped up to make the kick off in the second half. Anderson Schulle hit a great freekick 51 minutes into the match. ManagerZone Crew's Patrick Armstrong played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Diego Gonzales in the 53rd minute of play. In the 56th minute Diego Gonzales shot on, it seemed, an open goal, but Patrick Armstrong saw the ball coming and threw himself on it before it passed the goal line. 57 minutes into the match, Argentinos Juniors's goalkeeper Rigoberto Nazario had to clear away a ball on his right side after a cunning shot by Adrian Våleman. After 59 minutes of play, Argentinos Juniors's Petruț Fințescu made it 3-1 when he simply outclassed the defender marking him and hit a curling shot into the right side of the net. Patrick Armstrong was left in no man's land by his defense there! 61 minutes into the match, ManagerZone Crew's goal looked a bit too open when Domingos Aires came free, but Patrick Armstrong reached the ball before it rolled over the goal line. After 62 played minutes ManagerZone Crew got a freekick which was hit by Peter Linkhorst. In the 65th match minute, ManagerZone Crew was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Peter Linkhorst to maneuver through the defense. Patrick Armstrong didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Diego Gonzales went, in the 66th minute, to the upper right corner, 4-1 was the resulting score. An unexpectedly hard shot by Diego Gonzales in the 71st minute of play forced ManagerZone Crew's goalkeeper Patrick Armstrong to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Diego Gonzales scored 5-1 in the 74th match minute with a shot that went into the goal to the right of Patrick Armstrong, who was just a little too slow in reacting to the shot. Mats Falch was astounded when the referee showed him the red card after a seemingly innocent challenge, 90 minutes into the match. The supporters of ManagerZone Crew booed when Argentinos Juniors was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 91 match minutes in a wonderful position. Mats Falch didn't get a good kick on the ball. The audience thought a goal was coming when Adrian Våleman got free with Rigoberto Nazario in the 92nd minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. If Peter Linkhorst had kept his shot down it would have been a goal in the 94th minute. The ball went over the crossbar and out instead. Sven de Zwaan 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. For all the effort they put into the match, the ManagerZone Crew players left disappointed. They had fought hard, but couldn't break down the home team's defense. The match ended in a win for Argentinos Juniors.