Dreaming - miscalculated
Our expectations proclaimed the day before were overstated. The fourth round, the most productive in the current draw, alas, did not. Thursday added to the 28 goals scored on a fruitful Wednesday ... only 11. Less goals - less reason to stop looking at the match protocols, straighter stories, simpler table arithmetic.
That also happens!
However, the events in Group E turned out to be rather entertaining that unpleasant evening. More than half of all the goals were taken by her. Not only that: the fight between “Nancy” and “Feyenord” revealed simply an unrealistic clutch of scenario moves. The big win of the French middle peasant at the Dutch celebrity is already unusual. With an abundance of goals, we note their assortment: Sebastien Puigrenier scored from the game, Monséf Zerka - from the penalty spot, he earned, and Andre Bahia - completely at home. Do you think that's all? No! There was also an unrealized penalty: with a score of 3: 0, Pierre van Hoidonk blinked at the guests. There was a deletion: for half an hour Royston Drenthe did not finish the game with the Rotterdamites. Well, and the most discussed detail of the match was, of course, its suspension for a good half hour. A cloud of caustic gas crawled into the field from the sector where the Dutch fans who were roused by horror, and ten minutes before the final whistle, the players themselves asked the referees for an unscheduled pause.
So, “Nancy” ended the match as the leader of the group, who got the Blackburn free from the game. And “Feyenord” - imagining that in the last round he would be satisfied only with a home victory over the Krakow “Vistula”. The task is not at all simple: the Poles impressively answered the quick goal of the guests from Basel, and their striker Pavel Brozhek made the only goal double of the evening.
He married him without him
In the previous round, “Zulte-Waregem” was defeated by “Espanyol” in tennis - 6: 2. In this - did not go out on the field at all. But the chain of these inexpressive events paradoxically led joy. The results of the rivals in group F built the table in such a way that for the early entry into the top three of the best Belgians, the starting victories over Austria and Sparta were enough. Even more spectacular (9 points out of 9!) The club from Barcelona solved the problem. The third will almost certainly be Ajax. Only “Waregem” can prevent him in the last round. If he wins at home with a difference of ... 5 goals.
In the dry residue
For four matches in quartets, which have been ignored so far, there is only one goal. Fabian Kanobbio from “Celta” led him through the free-kick. Thus, he postponed the deferment of the situation in group H, which was desired for the Istanbul team. This is all the more offensive for the courageous, from the position of strength, playing Vigo guests, that in the first half their Brazilian craftsman Alex did not score a penalty Esteban Suarez, and in the second he disturbed headbang. In this company, Newcastle was the first to generously abandon the record in six consecutive European Cup victories, leaving rivals with the fuss and excitement of the dispute over the two remaining vacancies.
The ending in group G is even more sharply outlined. Only Panathinaikos solved all problems there. The rest, even those who completed the Rapid tournament in Bucharest, have little chance of going further.
But the fun little UEFA Cup today!
Sergey NOVIKOV