© EuroFootball.com
This year, unexpectedly surprising everyone and reaching the group stage of the UEFA Champions League and taking third place in their group, "Thun" continues to amaze the football world. This time, in the first leg of the UEFA Cup sixteenth-finals, they defeated the home team, the "Hamburger SV," with a minimal score.
Only a goal by the Brazilian Adriano Pimenta in the middle of the first half allowed "Thun" to defeat the club known as one of the favorites in the Bundesliga, and to debut a victory for the new coach, Heinz Peischl.
Experts note that the main reason for the third consecutive defeat of "Hamburger SV" after the winter break is the absence of the injured Rafael van der Vaart to help the team.
The defeat in Prague ended "Palermo's" unbeaten streak. The Italian club, recently led by Giuseppe Papadopulo, had to admit the superiority of the Czechs who had not finished the winter break yet, with a score of 2-1, when in the beginning of the second half, Italian national team defender Andrea Barzagli redirected the ball into his own net, which the coach decided to replace shortly after.
A late goal by "Stuttgart" defender Danijel Ljuboja into the "Middlesbrough" goal allowed the German club to increase their hopes of progressing to the next stage, even though they lost at home 0-2. Over the weekend, the footballers of the English club "Chelsea" crushed 3-0, and in these matches they played at a high level. The visitors took the lead after 20 minutes when veteran Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink scored with an individual effort. Just a minute into the second half, Stuart Parnaby doubled the score by redirecting a cross from George Boateng into the net.
The second leg matches will be played on February 23.
UEFA Cup sixteenth-finals first leg matches on Thursday
"Thun" 1 - 0 "Hamburger SV" 30` [1 - 0] Adriano Pimenta
Prague "Slavia" 2 - 1 "Palermo" 28` [1 - 0] Lukas Jarolim 40` [1 - 1] Kewullay Conteh 49` [2 - 1] Andrea Barzagli (own goal)
"Stuttgart" 1 - 2 "Middlesbrough" 20` [0 - 1] Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink 46` [0 - 2] Stuart Parnaby 86` [1 - 2] Danijel Ljuboja
