© EuroFootball.com
Three meetings took place on Wednesday in the UEFA Cup tournament. "Newcastle" and "AZ", both winners of their matches, easily advanced to the quarterfinals, while the first meeting between "Steaua" and "Villarreal" ended in a draw.
Although the drawing for the quarterfinal matches seemed to indicate an intriguing encounter between "Newcastle" and "Olympiacos," that was not the case. On the contrary, the English club, having already won the first leg away, crushed their opponents at home in the second leg with a 4-0 victory. Two goals were scored by their captain A. Shearer, with K. Dyer and L. Bowyer also finding the back of the net.
It was a bit more challenging for Alkmaar's "AZ", a surprise team of the tournament, but they also did not encounter major problems. "AZ" had a convincing lead of 3-1 after the first leg in Ukraine against "Shakhtar", and at home, the Dutch team, undefeated this season so far on their own turf, once again defeated the Ukrainians. Goals from B. van Galen and M. Meerdink shattered "Shakhtar's" hopes, and even though E. Blumer eased the difference, "AZ" advanced to the quarterfinals after a 24-year hiatus.
The postponed match between "Steaua" and "Villarreal" due to a fog last week was played on Wednesday, and the teams failed to score, leaving the game tied. The return match in Spain will take place on Sunday.
The remaining five UEFA Cup quarterfinal matches will take place on Thursday, with the drawing for the quarterfinals scheduled for Friday.
Final scores:
"AZ" 2 - 1 "Shakhtar" (First leg 3-1, aggregate 5-2) 9' [1 - 0] Barry van Galen 65' [2 - 0] Martijn Meerdink 66' [2 - 1] Elano Blumer
"Newcastle" 4 - 0 "Olympiacos" (First leg 3-1, aggregate 7-1) 18' [1 - 0] Kieron Dyer 45' [2 - 0] Alan Shearer 54' [3 - 0] Lee Bowyer 69' [4 - 0] Alan Shearer
"Steaua" 0 - 0 "Villarreal"
