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In two out of three UEFA Cup Round of 16 second leg matches played on Wednesday, there were big surprises: "Middlesbrough" and Bucharest's "Rapid" eliminated the favorites "AS Roma" and "Hamburger SV" respectively with away goals.
In the match held in Hamburg, it seemed like everything was going according to "HSV" scenario - goals from Benjamin Lauth and the well-known Bosnian Sergej Barbarez of Lithuanians equalized the overall result of the two matches, but Bugo Mugurelio's goal at the beginning of the second half turned everything upside down. After this goal, "HSV" needed a victory with three goals margin and the fans of the German club were filled with hope when in the middle of the second half, the star of "HSV" Rafael van der Vaart scored a goal, however, in front of their own fans, they couldn't break down the Romanian club despite an additional six minutes of added time.
The match in Rome went completely differently, where the goal from veteran Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink in the middle of the first half greatly increased "Middlesbrough's" hopes of reaching the quarterfinals. Although the Brazilian Mancini equalized the result at the end of the first half, "Roma" still needed at least two goals to progress.
The hope of "Roma" was stirred in the middle of the second half when a penalty was awarded to sixteen-year-old Stefano Okaka Chuka for the home team. Mancini successfully converted it, outsmarting the Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer of "Middlesbrough" who had impressively defended his goal numerous times before that. In the tense final moments of the match, "Roma" heavily attacked the visitors' goal, but they couldn't score for the third time against the opponent's goalkeeper and the French defender Philippe Mexes received his second yellow card in the second minute of added time.
At home, the "Sevilla" players convincingly defeated the "Lille" players 2-0 in the second leg to eliminate the opponents who had played in the UEFA Champions League this year, after losing the first leg 1-0. The situation of the visitors in Seville worsened significantly in the middle of the first half, when "Lille" defender Mathieu Bodmeras was sent off the field. "Sevilla" wasted no time in taking advantage of this and broke ahead just three minutes later, when Frederic Kanoute scored after a pass from Jesus Navas.
It turned out that the decisive moment in the match was the goal by Luis Fabiano with a header after a pass from F. Kanoute in the second minute of added time in the first half. Although the teams were level in the 71st minute when the "Sevilla" leader Jesus Navas, who had created the first goal, was sent off the field for a foul against Gregory Tafforeau, "Lille" failed to score the goal that would have guaranteed them a place in the quarterfinals.
The remaining five UEFA Cup Round of 16 second leg matches will be played today (Thursday), and the pairings for the quarterfinals, semifinals, and the final will be determined on Friday in Eindhoven, Netherlands, after the draw.
Wednesday's match statistics:
"Middlesbrough" 2 - 1 "AS Roma" (Agg. 2-2)
(first leg 0-1, overall result 2-2)
32' [0-1] Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink
43' [1-1] Mancini
66' [2-1] Mancini (pen.)
Philippe Mexes was sent off from the field for "Roma" in the 90th minute.
Bucharest "Rapid" 3 - 1 "Hamburger SV" (Agg. 3-3)
(first leg 0-2, overall result 3-3)
24' [1-0] Benjamin Lauth
36' [2-0] Sergej Barbarez
51' [2-1] Mugurel Buga
62' [3-1] Rafael van der Vaart
"Sevilla" 2 - 0 "Lille" (Agg. 2-1)
(first leg 0-1, overall result 2-1)
29' [1-0] Frederic Kanoute
45' [2-0] Luis Fabiano
Mathieu Bodmer was sent off from the field for "Lille" in the 26th minute.
Jesus Navas was sent off from the field for "Sevilla" in the 71st minute.
Thursday's matches:
Gelsenkirchen's "Schalke" - "Palermo"
"Udinese" - "Levski"
Bucharest "Steaua" - Seville's "Betis"
"Basel" - "Strasbourg"
"Marseille" - St. Petersburg's "Zenit"
