Article posted on 04 June 2018 at 5:51pm

Expert finishing gives Penafiel the cup!

Mariano Hoyas was the hero for a Futebol Clube de Penafiel team who won their first ever Mystify European cup this evening.

He then attempted to turn villain in a Jekyll and Hyde performance where desperation got the better of him as he became more and more determined to get his hat trick but, instead, followed up his initial yellow card for a challenge on the keeper with a crazy hand ball to receive his marching orders early in the 2nd half.

That was cue for Penafiel to stop attempting any kind of attacking and defend from the half way line backwards.

Up until that point, they had been threatening to extend their lead as gaps opened up in a Zwolle defence that had to become less cautious after finding themselves 3 goals down. Some could argue, that it was Zwolle who deserved to be leading after 20 minutes but awful misses from Samuel Barrio (who passed to the keeper when either side would surely have done) and Cezary Wojcik (who missed a free header when unmarked from a free kick), along with a couple of well positioned saves from Nicola Boselli, brought no results.

Instead, captain Ally McCoist had bundled in from an early corner and Mariano Hoyas had started his antics for the day by placing a header beyond the reach of Teodor Ogneanu, from a pinpoint Gullotto cross, to give Panafiel a 2 goal lead early in the game.

After the breathless start and talk of the game being an all time classic, it calmed down dramatically but Zwolle were the better team for most of the remaining half an hour. They just couldn't create the same kind of chances that they had fluffed early on in the game. Mariano Hoyas, however, was on a different level with a stunning overhead kick from a cross that was behind him that gave the keeper no chance. The goal was pure instinct and the deflation in the Zwolle players was obvious.

The second half was the polar opposite to the first half as once the eventual winners were down to ten men, they spent most of their time with the ball, passing sideways and backwards more than forwards, with just the occasional boot up-field for the tiring Ally McCoist to chase after. Meanwhile, Zwolle weren't having any luck breaking down the stubborn defence and the closest they came to pulling a goal back was when a couple of, almost identical, Hansen headers from corners occurred late in the game. The first one deflected off a defender for another corner and the 2nd was straight at the keeper. These 2 chances were after frustration had gotten the better of him with a badly placed strike as Zwolle attempted to give Panafiel some late nerves to contend with.

So congratulations to Futebol Clube de Penafiel on their title!

List of news articles