10/03/2008

UEFA Cup: Partizan - Poli 1:0 (0:0)

Despite playing well, the white-violets weren't able to turn the restul of the first leg around in yesterday's match. In an even encounter, both sides had quite a few scoring opportunities - Poli through Stancu, Brezinsky and Bucur a couple of times, while Pantilimon had to make some impressive saves to keep his clean sheet intact. However, after the white-violets "opened up" in their attempt to score and get back into the race for the UEFA Cup group stage, Partizan had more chances and managed to score the only goal of the game, with a shot from the edge of the area that hit the post before resting in the net. Bucur could have really scored in the last ten minutes, but both times his finishes were not enough to beat the Serbian keeper. So although Poli lost the match, it was after a good performance, in which the players gave their best, but it just wasn't enough.

Hopefully this year's experience will be useful for that of the following years, but until then, the team has to focus on their league matches in order to stay in the race for European qualification, despite the six point penalty.

Poli: Pantilimon (7) - Bădoi (6), Luchin (5,5), Brezinsky (6,5), Milhazes (6) - Stancu (5,5), Alexa (5,5), Borbely (5,5) - Goga (6), Bucur (5,5), Magera (5,5)

Rusic and Arm. Karamyan replaced Stancu and Luchin.

No comments: