League

Antonis Papadopoulos
Spectators: 7500 (Terracing: 6000, Seating: 1450, VIP seats: 50) The mood of the audience was pleasant when Dardanos Papoutsis made the kick off which started today's match. Jamal Bowen could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 6th minute of the match, but Toni Lozano made a huge save. Lykomedes Egonidis hit a great freekick 12 minutes into the match. Leonid Burenin showed his good apprehension of the play when he made a fantastic save on a shot from Vaggelis Totolos, who was totally free with the ball in the 16th minute. Toni Lozano had great luck who in the 17thth minute grab hold of the ball when Jamal Bowen from a short distance tried to put the ball inside the right post. 20 minutes into the game, Vaggelis Totolos cracked a shot to the right of the goalkeeper, 0-1. Leonid Burenin was not in position, and could only watch the ball fly in. The referee was alert and spotted a serious foul by Lykomedes Egonidis during the 24th minute. The player immediately received a yellow card. Lykomedes Egonidis kicked well hit freekick during the 24th minute of the match. 25 minutes into the match Jamal Bowen climbed in front of goal and pressed up 1-1 in the right cross behind a totally surprised Toni Lozano. After some careless play in the SL Benfica defense, Jamal Bowen kicked a shot that curved into the net to the right of Toni Lozano. The SL Benfica fans voiced their displeasure as they felt that Toni Lozano should have stopped the shot. Leonid Burenin didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Vaggelis Totolos went, in the 33rd minute, to the upper right corner, 2-2 was the resulting score. Leonid Burenin made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Vaggelis Totolos in the 36th minute of play. Myrtilos Mersinias charged in rather forcefully in the 38th minute of the match, and managed to knock his opponent down. The referee showed Myrtilos Mersinias the yellow card, and asked the players to shake hands before continuing play. In the 39th match minute, SL Benfica was awarded a freekick, the ball was picked up by Myrtilos Mersinias to maneuver through the defense. An unexpectedly hard shot by Dardanos Papoutsis in the 41st minute of play forced Anorthosis Famagusta FC's goalkeeper Leonid Burenin to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Dardanos Papoutsis, 43 minutes into the match, dribbled the ball up the side of the field and decided to take a long shot at the goal. Unfortunately, the ball was poorly hit and landed closer to the corner than to the goal. After having played for 47 minutes, Ptolemeos Vassilopulos managed to get in a good position for a shot on goal. Anorthosis Famagusta FC's supporters crossed their fingers, but Ptolemeos Vassilopulos was, after a quick turn that froze the defenders, out of balance and shot the ball just to the right of the goal. The score stood at 2-2 when the half time whistle went. Both sets of players seemed reasonably pleased with how the match was going.

The players of the home team were most fresh-looking when they entered the field to play the second half. Jamal Bowen was the one to do the kick off. Ekhemos Giannakakos hit a great freekick 51 minutes into the match. An unexpectedly hard shot by Dardanos Papoutsis in the 53rd minute of play forced Anorthosis Famagusta FC's goalkeeper Leonid Burenin to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Ptolemeos Vassilopulos sent away a hard shot on goal in the 54th minute, but the ball hit the crossbar and went out. A very good chance for a goal. Leonid Burenin was out of position in the 58 minute of play, and Vaggelis Totolos capitalized on the mistake with a soft shot into the goal. Vaggelis Totolos really showed his touch with that goal: 2-3. After 63rd play minutes Jamal Bowen shot 3-3, a short shot which went by Toni Lozano and just under the crossbar into goal. When Lykomedes Egonidis was, once again, overly rough in his play he received his second yellow card and was ordered off the ground. 68 minutes had been played. The supporters of Anorthosis Famagusta FC booed when SL Benfica was adjudged a doubtful freekick after 69 match minutes in a wonderful position. Lykomedes Egonidis didn't get a good kick on the ball. SL Benfica's Toni Lozano played magnificently when he managed to stop the ball from hitting the goal, after a sharp shot by Jamal Bowen in the 70th minute of play. Toni Lozano showed brilliant goalkeeper skills when he caught the ball after a hard shot from Jamal Bowen in the 75th minute of the match. Leonid Burenin made a wonderful reflex save on a shot from Vaggelis Totolos in the 77th minute of play. In the 77th minute, SL Benfica's Vaggelis Totolos dribbled the ball into the box and hit a shot with the outside of his foot, sending the keeper the wrong way. 3-4. An unexpectedly hard shot by Vaggelis Totolos in the 80th minute of play forced Anorthosis Famagusta FC's goalkeeper Leonid Burenin to throw himself to the left, to be able to save the ball. Thanasis Panayiotopoulos could have scored with his fast shot on goal in the 82nd minute of the match, but Leonid Burenin made a huge save. Agix Barraboutis took a chance and fired a shot far from the goal in the 88th minute, but it turned out to be a dangerous situation for Toni Lozano. SL Benfica's goalkeeper really had to stretch himself to stop the ball from crossing the goal line. Leonid Burenin was a little too slow when Thanasis Panayiotopoulos got a fine hit on the ball which went right into the goal in the 91st minute. The score was now 3-5. The audience thought a goal was coming when Myrtilos Mersinias got free with Leonid Burenin in the 95th minute, but the goalkeeper managed to catch the ball with a huge effort. Leonid Burenin didn't have a chance when a screaming shot from Thanasis Panayiotopoulos went, in the 96th minute, to the upper right corner, 3-6 was the resulting score. The referee blew the final whistle, and the away crowd roared, having watched SL Benfica eke out a victory against a very well matched opponent.