Sevilla crowned Uefa kings again
Andres Palop was the hero for Sevilla
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Wednesday, 16, May 2007 11:38
Sevilla have won the Uefa Cup for a second year in a row after an epic 3-1 penalty shoot-out victory over ten-man Espanyol at Hampden Park.
In the all-Spanish final the two teams were level at 2-2 after extra-time, with Sevilla goalkeeper Andres Palop the hero in the inevitable shoot-out, saving three of Espanyol's four spot-kicks.
Adriano had given the favourites the lead early on in the first-half, only for Albert Riera to equalise.
A Fredi Kanoute side-foot in the first-half of extra-time saw Sevilla get one hand on the trophy, but a 116th minute screamer from substitute Jonatas tied the game again.
In the resulting penalty shoot-out Palop was equal to almost everything thrown at him, with Sevilla winning 3-1 on penalties.
Juande Ramos' side won 2006's Uefa Cup final in a comprehensive 4-0 victory over Middlesbrough, but their quest to become only the second side after Real Madrid to claim successive titles in the competition promised to be a trickier affair against Espanyol.
Barcelona's second team belied their bottom-half placing in La Liga to thrash Germany's Werder Bremen 5-1 on aggregate in the semi-finals, having only qualified for the Uefa Cup by virtue of their victory in 2006's Copa del Rey.
However, the cup specialists fell behind to a driven effort from Sevilla's Brazilian left-winger Adriano on 18 minutes.
The 22-year-old powered down the left-flank before cutting inside and firing past Gorka Iraizoz in the Espanyol goal with a placed right-foot shot.
Ernesto Valverde's players responded in absorbing fashion, with the two teams seemingly evenly matched in a damning indictment against proponents of the claim the Premiership is the strongest league in Europe.
Espanyol's deserved equaliser came two minutes before the half-hour mark, with another left-sided player, Manchester City reject Riera, giving Palop no chance with a deflected effort.
The game continued to seesaw between Sevilla, who trail La Liga leaders Real Madrid by two points and two places after 34 games, and Espanyol, who occupy 12th place in the Spanish league.
But despite pressure from both teams neither was able to eke out a clear sight of goal during the remainder of the first half, with in-demand full-back Daniel Alves guilty of some profligate set-pieces.
Espanyol came out after the restart a full two minutes ahead of their opponents and their eagerness to get on to the pitch rattled Sevilla, but Ramos' team regained their composure to gain what looked like a stranglehold on the match.
Again though Espanyol came back strongly, with playmaker Ivan de la Pena cleverly setting up Luis Garcia on the edge of the box when it looked like he would himself shoot, with Palop tipping the midfielder's powerful drive over the bar.
The Sevilla keeper was called into action soon after when Riera produced a piece of pure brilliance on the left flank, hitting a diagonal half-volley destined for the top right corner that forced Palop into a spectacular save; palming the ball on to the crossbar and over.
Disaster struck for the underdogs however when anchorman Moises Hurtado was sent-off for a second bookable offence after sliding in needlessly late.
With Valverde having just brought on ex-Birmingham forward Walter Pandiani, the Uefa Cup's top scorer, the manager hauled off captain and talismanic striker Raul Tamudo with more than 20 minutes of normal time to play.
Sevilla dominated from this point in, but strikers Luis Fabiano and Kanoute, both of whom had been peripheral figures in the match so far, were frustrated with Iraizoz's resoluteness in the Espanyol goal and picked up a yellow card apiece.
The Uefa Cup holders' man advantage became more telling as the clock ticked down and as extra-time approached Espanyol's defending becoming increasingly desperate, while Sevilla had two penalty appeals turned down and the corner count continued to rise.
In extra-time itself the ball belonged to Sevilla, but they struggled to break down a packed Espanyol backline.
Luis Garcia produced a heroic last-gasp tackle when Antonio Puerta looked poised to pull the trigger, but in truth the game's explosive start had severely petered out.
But as the referee looked poised to blow for half-time in extra-time, Alves set up Jesus Navas on the right-hand side of the box, with the Spanish youngster delivering a low cross for the largely anonymous Kanoute to side-foot into the net from barely two yards out.
Sevilla had a hatful of chances to kill the game from that point in, but their own wastefulness and Iraizoz's brilliance kept the score at 2-1.
And they were punished when with four minutes left on the clock, Brazilian substitute Jonatas fired in a screaming 25-yarder to level the tie once more.
The equaliser sparked joyous celebrations on the Espanyol bench, but Sevilla and Palop had the last laugh, with the keeper saving from Luis Garcia and Jonatas before youngster Marc Torrejon missed the crucial penalty to hand the Andalusians the trophy.