UEFA Cup : Final group match, Sevilla knock-out

Racing Santander 3 - 1 Manchester City

Real Racing Club's victory was not enough for the Spanish Liga side to reach the UEFA Cup Round of 32 while Manchester City FC won Group A despite the defeat.

Racing were on top for large periods in Santander and were three goals up by the 54th minute thanks to strikes from Jonathan Pereira, Óscar Serrano and Juan Valera. Substitute Felipe Caicedo scored City's consolation goal in added time yet it was events in the French capital, where Paris Saint-Germain FC scored two late goals, which proved Racing's undoing, the Ligue 1 club pipping Racing to third place on goal difference.

The visitors received a let off in the eighth minute when a poor clearance from goalkeeper Kasper Schmeichel let in Mohamed Tchite but he directed his effort wide. Javier Garrido then sent a free-kick for City way over the crossbar though they were soon behind when Schmeichel failed to deal with a routine cross from Óscar and Pereira finished from close range. Soon after, Pereira tested Schmeichel from distance before City responded when Elano released Pablo Zabaleta, though his effort went high and wide. A minute later, the hosts extended their lead as Óscar started and finished a flowing move. The midfielder found Pereira with a long ball, took the return in his stride and sent a shot beyond Schmeichel.

Racing were cutting City open with ease and Tchite tested Schmeichel with a volley in the 36th minute following a cross from Pedro Munitis. The third arrived ten minutes after the break when City failed to cut out another centre from Munitis, Marcano headed on and Valera scored from close range. Three should have became four soon after but somehow Tchite, allowed to continue after colliding with Schmeichel, put his effort past the post with the goal unguarded. City managed to breach a well-organised Racing backline in added time when Caicedo headed in a cross from Zabaleta.


Sampdoria 1 - 0 Sevilla

Substitute Jonathan Bottinelli struck the only goal of the game as UC Sampdoria beat Sevilla FC in Genoa to book their spot in the last 32 of the UEFA Cup and eliminate the two-time winners.

Bottinelli bundled in Reto Ziegler's free-kick with 15 minutes remaining as Sampdoria, who had started the game two points behind Sevilla, claimed one of the three qualifying places in Group C. With VfB Stuttgart beating group winners R. Standard de Liège, the Spanish side's hopes of claiming a third UEFA Cup title in four years were shattered as they became only the second team in the five-year history of the group stage to be knocked out with six points, Rangers FC having suffered the same fate in 2004/05.

There was nothing to separate the two sides in the first half, although Sevilla's Andrés Palop was the slightly busier of the goalkeepers, making a couple of decent saves. His first came in the ninth minute when he dived full length to turn away Mirko Pieri's effort from the edge of the box and then, just before the break, the 35-year-old was called upon once again to deny Paolo Sammarco after clever passing had cut through the Sevilla defence.

The hosts finally got the breakthrough they had been threatening as Bottinelli managed to force the ball in with his midriff following Ziegler's deflected free-kick. Sevilla laid siege to the Italian side's goal, but Diego Capel spurned their best chance when he shot wide of the far post after breaking free down the left.


Tottenham Hotspur 2 - 2 Spartak Moscow

Tottenham Hotspur FC flirted with disaster at White Hart Lane, but recovered from going 2-0 down against FC Spartak Moskva to ease into the UEFA Cup Round of 32.

Goals from Luka Modrić and Tom Huddlestone helped Tottenham make amends in the second half after Artem Dzyuba struck twice before the interval to revive the Russian side's hopes of progressing. Had Spartak kept a clean sheet, Tottenham would have been out of the competition on goals scored away from home, with NEC Nijmegen winning 2-0 against Udinese Calcio in the evening's other Group D game.

Michael Laudrup's Spartak rocked the hosts in the first half, with huge centre-forward Dzyuba causing endless problems. His backheel allowed Vladislav Ryzhkov to fire at Heurelho Gomes from the edge of the area, and then took advantage after Gilberto misjudged a pass from Gareth Bale, stealing in to put the ball between the goalkeeper's legs and score. Dzyuba's second goal ten minutes later, in the 33rd minute, was also one Tottenham would rather forget as he tapped the ball past Didier Zokora, skipped beyond the Tottenham defence, rounded Gomes and put the ball into an empty net. Things could easily have been worse for the English side, with Gomes then parrying a deflected Dzyuba effort to deny the striker a first-half hat-trick.

Tottenham emerged chastened after the break, with Stipe Pletikosa forced to make a save from Fraizer Campbell's header, but Dzyuba was to have another chance to score – firing straight at Gomes after Zokora's clearance went directly to him – before Modrić beat fellow Croatian international Pletikosa from substitute Aaron Lennon's pull-back. Huddlestone headed the leveller on 74 minutes, with Bale delivering a fine cross after David Bentley had sent the Welshman free down the left.
Full results;

Group A
Paris S.G. 4 - 0 FC Twente Enschede
Racing Santander 3 - 1 Manchester City

Group B
Benfica 0 - 1 Metalist Kharkiv
Olympiakos Piraeus 4 - 0 Hertha BSC

Group C
Sampdoria 1 - 0 Sevilla
Stuttgart 3 - 0 Standard Liege

Group D
NEC Nijmegen 2 - 0 Udinese
Tottenham Hotspur 2 - 2 Spartak Moscow

Group E
AC Milan 2 - 2 Wolfsburg
Portsmouth 3 - 0 SC Heerenveen

Group F
Ajax Amsterdam 2 - 2 Slavia Prague
Hamburger SV 3 - 1 Aston Villa

Group G
Club Brugge 0 - 1 FC Copenhagen
Saint-Etienne 2 - 2 Valencia

Group H
Deportivo La Coruna 1 - 0 Nancy
Feyenoord Rotterdam 0 - 1 Lech Poznan

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