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Unbelievably saved in the UEFA Cup quarterfinals, the "Middlesbrough" club continues to create unique football miracles - in the UEFA Cup semi-final second leg against "Steaua" the English team once again managed to astonishingly erase a three-goal deficit within an hour and again after M. Maccarone's goal at the end of the match, snatch a ticket to the final, where they will face the "Sevilla" team that won in a fierce battle after extra time against the "Schalke" team.
After the first leg match in Romania, which "Steaua" won 1-0, "Middlesbrough" needed to seek revenge, but their situation became significantly more complicated in the 16th minute of the match, when goalkeeper Brad Jones parried a shot from distance by Petre Marinou and Nicolae Dica, the hero of the first leg match, sent it into the goal with a weak shot.
In the 24th minute, the hosts' situation became almost hopeless - although goalkeeper managed to parry a header from Dorin Goian after a corner kick, Stuart Parnaby failed to clear the ball and the opponents scored their second goal with a precise shot. This meant that "Middlesbrough", like in the quarterfinals against "Basel", was already trailing 0-3 on aggregate in the middle of the first half.
It seemed that it couldn't get any worse, but just two minutes later the team captain and defensive pillar Gareth Southgate had to leave the field due to injury, but his replacement, striker Massimo Maccarone, revived the home team's hopes. The defenders of "Steaua" failed to clear the ball away from the goal, Mark Viduka passed it to the Italian legionnaire, and M. Maccarone softened the deficit with a precise shot into the corner of the net.
Before the break, "Middlesbrough" could have scored twice, but their efforts were saved by "Steaua" goalkeeper Carlos Alberto Fernandes, who first parried M. Viduka's close-range attempt, and then somehow managed to deflect the acrobatic shot from the Australian.
After the break, the English club pressed their opponents, and the team coach Steve McClaren brought in a fourth striker - Nigerian Yakubu Ayegbeni. The opponent's goalkeeper soon had to save his shot, and after M. Maccarone's pass, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink struck from a few meters away from the goal.
The attacks of "Middlesbrough" continued, and shortly after receiving a pass from Stewart Downing from the flank, Mark Viduka took advantage of the goalkeeper's mistake and equalized the match with a header, and in the 72nd minute, the same S. Downing's shot was parried by the goalkeeper, but Chris Riggott sent the ball into the net while falling.
The hosts needed one more goal and incredibly, the hero of the "Riverside" stadium just before the end of the match was once again M. Maccarone, who snatched the decisive goal against "Basel" - after another excellent pass from S. Downing, the Italian scored the fourth goal with a header in the 88th minute. On aggregate, the "Middlesbrough" team found themselves in the lead, and after nerve-wracking extra minutes, they secured a dramatic victory and a ticket to the cup final.
In the final taking place in Eindhoven on May 10, the English club will face a team from Spain - the "Sevilla" team, which, in contrast, overcame the resistance of "Schalke" after a "dry" 180 minutes. Sevilla's winning goal was scored by Antonio Puerta from 12 yards in the 101st minute of extra time.
UEFA Cup semi-final results
4 - 2 Bucharest
(First leg 0-1, aggregate 4-3)
16' [0 - 1] Constantin Dica
24' [0 - 2] Nicolae Dorin Goian
33' [1 - 2] Massimo Maccarone
66' [2 - 2] Mark Viduka
73' [3 - 2] Chris Riggott
89' [4 - 2] Massimo Maccarone
1 - 0 Gelsenkirchen
(After extra time - first leg 0-0, aggregate 1-0)
101' [1 - 0] Antonio Puerta
