© EuroFootball.com
On Thursday, forty UEFA Cup matches were played, in which several interesting surprises were recorded. The "Odense" club, after dramatic draws in the first leg with "Hertha", overcame one of the strongest German teams with a minimal margin and eliminated the opponent from the tournament, while France's "Marseille" lost in a dramatic six-goal thriller against "Mlada Boleslav". Another German club, "Schalke", lost to "Nancy", and "Sparta" failed to take revenge against "Hearts" coached by Valdas Ivanauskas.
The first sensation was recorded in Denmark, where the local "Odense" clashed with Berlin's "Hertha" club. The only goal that granted a ticket to the next stage of the competition to the Danish club was a precise strike by former "Man Utd" youth player Madso Timmo in the 62nd minute.
One of the strongest French clubs, "Marseille", this time failed to defeat the average Czech champions "Mlada Boleslav" club. The "Ligue 1" team took the lead in the 14th minute with Toifilou Maoulida's goal, but in the 35th minute, the Czech club equalized the score through Lubos Pecka.
In the second half, "Marseille" was led forward by Nigerian national team full-back Taye Taiwo. In the 62nd minute, an 11m penalty was awarded to the French club, which was converted by Radim Holub. This result guaranteed a ticket to the group stage of the UEFA Cup for "Marseille," but with 10 minutes left to play, a precise strike by the same R.Holub moved the Czech club into the lead. The confused French tried to equalize the score, but a swift counterattack from "Mlada Boleslav" put the final nail in the coffin: a goal scored by Tomas Sedlacek in the 90th minute. However, with just five minutes left to play, the home team had to finish the game with a man down: Jaromir Smerda was sent off the field.
Another "Bundesliga" club - "Schalke" - withdrew from further competitions. After snatching a last-minute victory against "Nancy" in their arena two weeks ago, the Germans were taught a lesson by the French club this time. The "Nancy" team took the lead in the 18th minute thanks to Andre Luiz's goal. Gaston Curbelo quickly doubled the lead. In the 70th minute, the Germans began their comeback with Issiaras Dia, but determined Germans did not give up and softened the score in the 78th minute when Marcelo Bordon scored.
The "Lithuanian" club from Edinburgh, "Hearts," thanks to their first lost match to Prague's "Sparta," also ended their European campaign today. The match ended in a goalless draw. In the first half, the hosts attacked more, but the "Hearts" goalkeeper Craig Gordon and defenders played excellently. Zdenek Pospech had a chance to score early in the game, but his header was cleared off the goal line by Paul Hartley. A few moments later, Jan Simak threatened the goal from distance, but he went wide.
After ten minutes, the "Hearts" goal was shaken by the crossbar when Daniel Kolaz struck the ball, which hit one of the "Hearts" defenders' legs and rebounded off the crossbar. At the end of the first half, Deividas Cesnauskis had the best chance to score when he received a pass from his team...
