Thursday 10 April 2008

UC QF: Viola fly the flag to the semi's

A superb goal in each half from Adrian Mutu ensured Fiorentina progressed to the UEFA Cup semi-finals and a match with Glasgow Rangers after a 2-0 win at PSV Eindhoven, 3-1 on aggregate.

PSV Eindhoven 0-2 Fiorentina (Agg: 1-3)
Quarter-Final, Second Leg
Adrian Mutu struck twice for Fiorentina to set up a UEFA Cup semi-final clash with Rangers after a 2-0 win at the Philips Stadion. The Dutch champions headed into the quarter-final second leg seemingly with the edge after a 1-1 draw in Italy last week. But Mutu scored in each half for the Viola, while PSV fluffed the chance to mount a late comeback when Timmy Simons' penalty was saved by Sebastian Frey.


Frey pushed first-leg scorer Danny Koevermans' shot round the post early on before Giampaolo Pazzini was denied by Heurelho Gomes. Mutu made the breakthrough on 38 minutes when he hammered a 30-yard free-kick into the top corner. The former Chelsea striker grabbed his second of the night on 54 minutes with a composed finish after Gomes had parried Pazzini's shot.

Riccardo Montolivo hit the crossbar for Fiorentina just past the hour mark before PSV were awarded a penalty 10 minutes from time. Tomas Ujfalusi brought down Danko Lazovic, but Frey was equal to Simons' spot-kick as he dived to his right to make the save.

Fiorentina saw out the final stages with few scares and will now face Rangers, who won 2-0 at Sporting Lisbon, in the last four.

Other Results
Quarter-Final, Second Leg
Getafe 3-3 Bayern Munich AET (Agg: 4-4, Bayern win on away goals rule)
Sporting Lisbon 0-2 Glasgow Rangers (Agg: 0-2)
Zenit St Petersburg 0-1 Bayer Leverkusen (Agg: 4-2)

Fixtures
Semi-Final (24 April and 1 May)
Bayern Munich v Zenit St Petersburg
Glasgow Rangers v Fiorentina

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