Thursday 1 May 2008

UC SF: Penalty heartbreak for La Viola

Fiorentina have missed out on the UEFA Cup Final after they were beaten on penalties by Glasgow Rangers at the Stadio Artemio Franchi in Florence.

Fiorentina 0-0 Glasgow Rangers AET (Agg: 0-0, Pens: 2-4)
Semi-Final, Second Leg
Nacho Novo struck the decisive spot-kick as ten-man Rangers booked a place in the final against Zenit St. Petersburg with a 4-2 shoot-out victory, despite being dominated by Fiorentina for much of the preceding 120 minutes and the first leg in Glasgow last week.

Cesare Prandelli's side controlled the tie right from the start as Sasa Papac cleared a clever Mario Alberto Santana backheel off the goalline. Adrian Mutu and Christian Vieri also went close but defender Carlos Cuellar kept his side in the game.


The visitors did not have a shot in anger until 13 minutes from the end of regulation time through Steven Whittaker as the Viola piled forward but were somehow unable to find the breakthrough.

After 180 scoreless minutes over two legs, extra time came and then penalties, and when Barry Ferguson had the first attempt brilliantly saved by Sebastian Frey it looked like the Scottish sides' lack of attacking ambition would haunt them. Yet Neil Alexander denied Fabio Liverani and Christian Vieri skied his effort, allowing Novo to seal an unlikely win and a final in Manchester on 14 May.

Other Result
Semi-Final, Second Leg
Zenit St Petersburg 4-0 Bayern Munich (Agg: 5-1)

Final:
Zenit St Petersburg v Glasgow Rangers
Wednesday 14 May 2008, 1945 UK time
City of Manchester Stadium (Manchester, England)

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