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26 January 2013
Rosport 1-0 Swift Hesperange
GK: Oster
D: Lickes, Loose, Maiget, Bernard
M: Rakic, Battaglia, Pazos, Ferreira
ST: Schiltz, Saboga
This one lived up to the hype surrounding a match between the #1 and #2 teams in the division.
I had a feeling it would be low-scoring. Swift Hesperange has a Luxembourg international goalkeeper, Marc Pleimling; we have his backup, Jeff Oster. Their right back, Armando Tavares, has the best match rating in the Promotion Division. Our center back, Yannick Loose, has the third best (Laurent Schiltz is at #2). Swift Hesperange is solid across the back four, and so are we.
Fortunately, we were the ones to break the impasse. On 85 minutes, Andy Rakic crossed the ball to Carlos Ferreira, who one-touched it to Laurent Schiltz, just outside the six-yard box.
Normally, you'd think Schiltz, whose 12 league goals lead the Promotion Division, would shoot. So did Azzouz Benlaouira, who closed down on him quickly. Schiltz calmly dropped the ball back to a wide-open Alphonse Leweck, who'd come on for Christophe Pazos. Leweck struck it hard just inside the right post, off Pleimling's fingertips.
Benlaouira, who didn't put a foot wrong all night, was Man of the Match (8.7). He didn't make a mistake on the game-winning goal; Schiltz just made an amazing play. He happens to be second in the league in assists, too--that was his seventh of the season.
Our biggest crowd of the season--271--left happy. Our three points puts us seven clear of Swift Hesperange, with 12 matches to play.
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