Though PENTA Sports' abysmal 7-16 loss on Cobble started off the Week 3 ESL Pro League Hot Match on a dour note — or a moist one if you're Joona "natu" Leppänen — the German team fired back on Cache to split the series 1-1 against Virtus.pro.

We did not see a repeat of the EPL Season 3 Relegation match, where PENTA defeated VP 2-1 to knock them out of EPL, in part because it wasn't a full best-of-three series, but also because PENTA were facing a very different VP this time around. This was not the VP that finished last in EPL Season 3 and third last in ECS Season 1 — it was the VP that finished in the Top 4 of the Major at ESL One Cologne 2016 and won ELEAGUE Season 1.

VP's relegation last season was something of an embarrassment for the team, so a clean 2-0 in the rematch would have helped them save some face. But it's not what happening, and the 1-1 may end up being a telling result for the rest of VP's season in EPL.

PENTA, on the other hand, can be happy with this result. Not only are they considered the weaker of the two teams, they changed their roster just yesterday, leaving them with new coordination challenges going into their first two games of the season. Still, they pulled out a convincing map win, which is a promising start.

Here's a look at what went down. (Note: Stats aggregated from HLTV.org on Aug. 29 prior to the match, filtered by "Past 3 months.")

Map 1 (Cobble): VP 16-7 PENTA

VP (W/L - W%) Map PENTA (W/L - W%) 8/0 - 100% Cobble 3/9 - 25%

Given the recent performances of both teams on Cobble, it's not much of a surprise that it went to the scoreline it did. VP have a flawless record on the map over a good number of games, while for PENTA, it's a weak point that other teams have exploited in the draw.

First Half: VP (T) 14-1 PENTA (CT)

For PENTA, the first half of Cobble was a clear case of "close, but no cigar." PENTA took good trades in most of the early round skirmishes, but whenever it came down to duels or post-plant retakes, they crumbled time and again.

Round 4 was prime example. Both teams were on full buys. snax opened up with an AWP pick, and VP had the early advantage. When they rushed the A-site it was chaos — but when the dust settled, only NEO remained on the site to defend the bomb, and PENTA was lined up for a straightforward 2v1. They had some decent utility, but they weren't in the proper positions to make the trade, and NEO picked them off one by one.

The same thing kept happening. PENTA would take an even or better trade, but give up the site. They did decent economic damage every round, taking down three or four enemy players, but VP were unphased. They managed to plant the bomb in 12 (!) out of 15 rounds, and took a decisive 14-point lead.

Second Half: VP (CT) 2-6 PENTA (T)

PENTA played the second half to its fullest. They crucially won the pistol round and carried their momentum forward to stretch out the game as much as possible. The Germans took Rounds 5 and 6 flawlessly, without taking a death.

But in Round 7, with both teams on full buys, VP opted for a double-AWP setup. pasha took a 2-for-1 trade with his AWP watching Long B, and snax used his to end the round with the final kill. VP kept up the double-AWP pressure in Round 8, holding the angles to shut down PENTA's B-site pushes, and closed the map 16-7.

Map 2 (Cache): VP 10-16 PENTA

VP (W/L - W%) Map PENTA (W/L - W%) 2/2 - 50% Cache 13/6 - 68.4%

It was a completely different PENTA playing this map. Instead of taking questionable fights on Cobble, they were cool and collected on Cache, often playing with the timer on their T-sides. They set the pace, took a stronghold on mid and never let VP's CT-side get out of hand.

The first half of the map went as expected, with a close 8-7 scoreline in slight favor of VP. But this was also the map that PENTA obliterated VP on 16-3 during the EPL Season 3 relegation match; PENTA definitely reminded us of that in the second half.

First Half: VP (CT) 8-7 PENTA (T)

Though PENTA gave VP a good fight in the first half, they made a number of mistakes that critically lost them momentum. In Round 5, VP's opening pick was on the bomb carrier, which forced PENTA into an awkward retake situation. They ended up giving up the round after a force buy, and had to take a full eco round, which VP won without losing a player.

Round 13 was another critical round lost by PENTA. byali was in a 3v1 situation, but only one of PENTA was on-site to protect the bomb. byali killed the player guarding the site, stuck the defuse and stole a round.

Second Half: VP (T) 2-9 PENTA (CT)

In the second half, PENTA continued to take a measured approach to the map. Often they would give up sites or purposefully wait for a plant, favoring a post-plant scenario rather than trying to find duels.

The German team were completely in their element. Even though VP took two rounds, PENTA shut down their momentum with forced buys in the immediately following rounds. VP didn't have space to work with from their first half, and PENTA were able to take the win 16-10.

Key Takeaways

PENTA have shown that, while they have a long road ahead of them in ESL Pro League, they can compete against the best when they get in their comfort zone.

Even with stfN as a trial player, the team coordinated admirably. Still, stfN's performance itself left a lot to be desired. He had a 0.78 HLTV rating on Cobble and a 1.13 rating on Cache, suggesting he has yet to find his identity within the team.

VP's performance online, and PENTA's performance overall, will be key things to keep track of for the duration of the league.