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Lazio - Red Star 1-0
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| Mihajlo Pjanovic jumps fo the ball with Fernando Couto |
Rome, ITALY, October 31 (uefa.com) - S.S. Lazio head to Belgrade for the second leg of their UEFA Cup tie against Red Star with a 1-0 lead, but they
were given a stern examination by the Yugoslavian side and
their passage to the third round is far from assured.
Stefano Fiore scored the only goal of the
game in the eleventh minute, tucking the
ball beyond the left hand of Ivan
Randjelovic after he arrived unmarked at
the near post to meet Fabio Liverani's
right-wing free-kick.
Having scored, the home side were happy
to sit back and soak up whatever Red Star threw at them in the first half.
Initially, that was not much, but as the
visitors grew in confidence, with Nemanja
Vidic commanding at the back and Mihajlo
Pjanovic becoming increasingly involved in
midfield, they began to threaten.
They did not create a chance of note, though, until first-half
added time, when some tentative defending from Lazio
allowed Pjanovic a shot on the turn from eight metres that he
fired over the bar. Moments earlier only a great challenge
from Vidic had denied Massimo Oddo as he attempted to
square the ball for Simone Inzaghi.
The second half could hardly have begun more differently, as
both sides had their chances in a frantic opening ten
minutes. The lively Branko Boskovic fired an effort just wide
after Pjanovic's knockdown, then Inzaghi shot straight at
Randjelovic after a slip from Milan Dudic.
Boskovic headed just wide, and Fernando Couto sent an
overhead kick a fraction past the post, before the game
gradually slowed as Lazio sat back on their lead. They almost
paid for it as Ivan Gvozdenovic drilled a speculative effort
just wide on 78 minutes.
Gzvozdenovic was at the centre of things again in added
time, chipping a delicate ball into the box for Pjanovic, whose
clever looping header was well held by Angelo Peruzzi. Right
at the death Lazio could have doubled their lead, but Inzaghi
headed well over after being picked out by a Claudio López
cross.
Lazio coach Roberto Mancini admitted there was still much to
do. "We could have scored one more goal," he said,
and added of the second leg: "We will have to play with 100
per cent effort and will have to go for a win."
Red Star coach Zoran Filipovic is determined to stop
them, and warned: "We will have a very good chance playing
in front of a full house - and Lazio are going to have a lot
more problems than tonight."
*****
Partizan - Slavia 3-1
Belgrade, October 31 (uefa.com) - SK Slavia Praha played some neat football in Belgrade but were undone by some clinical finishing from a FK Partizan
side who will be confident of protecting their lead in the
second leg and advancing from this UEFA Cup second-round
tie.
Conquerors of Portuguese double-winners
Sporting Clube de Portugal in the first
round, Partizan took a fourth-minute lead
through Danko Lazovic and Sasa Ilic made
it 2-0 just after the half-hour mark.
Richard Dostálek hauled Slavia back into
the tie eleven minutes after the break but
Partizan had the final say through
Zvonomir Vukic with a shade over 20
minutes remaining.
Partizan started strongly and opened the
scoring from their first incisive attack. Ivica
Ilijev robbed a Slavia player before feeding Nenad Miskovic
whose instinctive pass to Lazovic was dispatched with aplomb
from ten metres. Slavia responded well, passing the ball
confidently yet rarely looking like creating the sort of opening
which saw Partizan make it 2-0 in the 32nd minute.
A sweeping move ended up with Milivoje Cirkovic sending a
delicious through-ball into the path of his captain, Ilic, who
beat Radek Cerny in the Slavia goal with a confident finish.
Lesser teams may have buckled but Slavia started the
second half as the home side had the first and, like Partizan,
were rewarded with a goal.
The veteran Radek Bejbl was the instigator, teeing up
Dostálek to halve the deficit. Despite scoring a crucial away
goal, Slavia will have it all to do in the Czech capital in a
fortnight's time after Vukic blasted in the final goal of an
entertaining match off the bar in the 69th minute.
The coach of Partizan, Ljubia Tumbakovic, refused to
believe the tie had been won tonight. "This is not a huge
advantage," he said, "but it is a good result. It was difficult
and I admit we had a bit of luck. Slavia played exactly how I
imagined, using short passes to work their way up the pitch."
Slavia coach Miroslav Beránek felt Partizan "deserved to win"
before saying of his own side's showing: "We helped them
win by making numerous mistakes. However, although I am
not satisfied with the result I am with the performance of my
players."
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