The Bees travelled to one of the most iconic indoor sports venues to take on London Baku United, one of England's most successful futsal clubs.
Welcome to the Copperbox! Wow what a venue, but given the great venue and the pedigree of the opposition, apart from a couple of Cambridge Futsal fans making some noise it was surprisingly quiet!
The game kicked off and despite the Bees being in control they couldn't create any real clear cut chances, that was until Alfonso Lanza found Vitalii Burnus whose composed finish gave the visitors a deserved lead. And it didn't take long for Burnus to double the lead and put the Bees in control heading into the halftime break.
The second half started with an Angel Martinez special. Picking up the ball from a delightful Jonny Tofts' clipped pass Martinez raced down the right and left the home keeper wondering what had just happened as he lashed the ball into the top corner from a tight angle, the Bees in control.
Not only were the visitors in control but the home team had been guilty of racking up the fouls, however they also were playing better and hit back through a well worked move. Suddenly Baku looked more threatening and the Bees were wobbling for the first time in the game Baku struck again 2-3 game on!
Many teams would have panicked at this point, but Baku hitting back looked to galvanise the Bees and the visitors began to look the more likely side to get the vital next goal and they did when Harry Horton found Isaac Griffiths who volleyed home at the far post. The home team were now pushing hard and being on 5 fouls this was always a risk, and a risk that did not pay off, a soft foul, but a foul nonetheless, Martinez cracking home a perfect 10m penalty off of the post.
Baku's response was to go fly and a great turn and finish past the excellent José Lima gave the hosts a glimmer of hope, but with time running out the home team gave up possession and Bee's captain Tofts curled in a finish from the edge of his own penalty area into the unguarded net 6-3 game over and Cambridge end 2021 with a fifth consecutive victory.
Cambridge goals: Vitalii Burnus (2), Angel Martinez (2), Isaac Griffiths and Jonny Tofts
Finally we would like to wish all of our fans and supporters of futsal everywhere a very happy and safe festive season and look forward to seeing you in 2022!
🎅💛🖤⚽🖤💛🎅
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