Sevilla march past Athens
Daniel Alves resumes duty for Sevilla after an unsettled summer
Also In The News
|
Serena Williams stormed through to the quarter-finals of the US Open after beating Marion Bartoli 6-3 6-4 at Flushing Meadows. |  |
Monday, 03, Sep 2007 10:56
Sevilla made sure of their involvement in this season's Uefa Champions League with a resounding 4-1 home win over AEK Athens in the second leg of the pair's qualifying round tie.
The match was originally scheduled for last Tuesday but was postponed following the death of 22-year-old defender Antonio Puerta.
Puerta died three days after collapsing during the Spanish side's opening league match of the season against Getafe and a minute's silence before kick-off marked his passing and the lives lost in recent forest fires in Greece.
The visitors were quickly out of the blocks hoping to make an early dent in Sevilla's 2-0 lead from the first leg.
Brazilian veteran Rivaldo twice called on goalkeeper Andres Palop to keep the hosts' two-goal advantage intact, but it was his countryman Luis Fabiano who made the breakthrough at the other end with a 31st-minute penalty after a foul on Daniel Alves.
Seydou Keita made sure of the outcome with a second for Juande Ramos' side ten minutes later, before Fabiano struck again on the stroke of half-time.
Alexander Kerzhakov had stretched the aggregate lead to 6-0 before Rivaldo stepped up to convert a 82nd spot-kick to ensure his team registered on the scoresheet.
Sevilla now complete the line-up for Group H of Europe's premier competition alongside Arsenal, Slavia Prague and Steaua Bucharest while AEK Athens face a tricky Uefa Cup tie against Austrian outfit Salzburg.