| Uefa Cup: Livorno give Espanyol the upper hand (English/Italian) |
|
|
| Thursday, 15 February 2007 | |
 Espanyol have one foot in the last 16 of the UEFA Cup after edging out Livorno in the first leg of their UEFA Cup Round of 32 tie on Wednesday.
The Spanish side looked to be cruising after goals from Uruguayan striker Walter Pandiani, from the penalty spot, and Moroccan midfielder Moha. But Livorno pulled one back to give themselves a chance in the return leg, which will be played next week in Barcelona. The game, played behind closed doors following the recent security problems in Italy, started slowly with the visitors getting the better of the early exchanges. Espanyol, wearing an all-green strip, created the first chance of the game when Moha brought the ball down and volleyed wide after just two minutes. Brazilian Eduardo Costa, in the team in place of the injured Ivan De La Pena, also tried his luck five minutes later, but fired his effort just over the bar. Espanyol continued to dominate but created little else of note until the 25th minute, when Rufete charged into the Livorno area and won a corner. From the resulting centre, Jesus Maria Lacruz was bundled over by Cristiano Lucarelli and French referee Stephane Lannoy pointed to the spot. Pandiani stepped up to fire his eighth goal of this UEFA Cup campaign, thereby becoming Espanyol's all-time record goalscorer in Europe in just one season. Livorno looked for a quick response and almost got one when Lucarelli popped up in the box after 32 minutes, but the striker headed just wide. After the break, Espanyol continued to attack and came close to doubling their lead after 54 minutes. Coro's free-kick was headed on to the post by Daniel Jarque and Costa sent the rebound spinning wide. Four minutes later, Ernesto Valverde's side were two up though, after Moha coolly side-footed home a long ball from Jarque.
Espanyol looked to be cruising to an easy victory, but made things more difficult for themselves after defender Fabio Galante headed a late consolation for Livorno nine minutes from time. ESPN In Italian: Uefa, l'Espanyol espugna Livorno Amaranto sconfitti 2-1 dai catalani nell'andata a porte chiuse dei sedicesmi di finale. Nel primo tempo in gol Pandiani su rigore, nella ripresa raddoppia Moha; per i toscani accorcia Galante.Con una prova autoritaria, l'Espanyol espugna (1-2) l'Armando Picchi e di fatto mette in cassaforte la qualificazione agli ottavi di finale di coppa Uefa. Agli amaranto occorrerà, nella prossima settimana, un vero e proprio miracolo sportivo per rovesciare, in trasferta, la scomodissima situazione. Il successo dei validi biancocelesti, nell'occasione in tenuta verde, non fa una grinza. L'Espanyol, con il suo "elastico" e organizzato 4-4-2 crea non pochi imbarazzi ai padroni di casa, in campo con lo stesso schema (il 4-4-1-1) e con gli stessi uomini protagonisti tre giorni fa a Milano. Partita giocata a porte chiuse, anche se, grazie agli inviti della società, sulle tribune si contano circa 400 spettatori (200 provenienti da Barcellona). I tifosi labronici più caldi si fanno sentire con cori provenienti dall'esterno dell'impianto. Cronaca. Gazzetta LIVORNO-ESPANYOL 1-2 (0-1) MARCATORI: nel pt 27' Pandiani (E) su rigore; nel st 14' Moha (E), 36' Galante (L) LIVORNO(4-4-1-1): Amelia, Grandoni, Kuffour, Galante, Pasquale, Filippini, Morrone (28' st Coppola), Passoni, Cesar (15' st Paulinho), Fiore (33' st Pfertzel), Lucarelli (23 Manitta, 18 Rezaei, 32 Pavan, 69 Balleri). Allenatore: Arrigoni ESPANYOL (4-2-3-1): Gorka, Velasco, Arque, Lacruz, Chica, Ito, Costa, Rufete, Corominas (42' st Hurtado), Moha (15' st Riera), Pandiani (31' st Garcia Fernandez) (13 Kameni, 3 Garcia, 19 Torrejon, 28 Lopez). Allenatore: Valverde |
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
