Leandro Romagnoli's scrappy effort and Derlei's late second were enough to see off stubborn Basel in Wednesday evening's Champions League encounter.FC Basel travelled to Portugal to face Sporting Clube de Portugal with both sides looking for their first points in Group C.
Considering that both sides are lacking in form and confidence at present, one suspected a timid opening, and so it proved.
However, the hosts would come to dominate possession during the opening period and created several decent chances. Tonel stole in to head a dangerous corner just wide before Fabio Rochemback lashed past the post.
The Leões, though, would have had a much more pleasant half-time break, spared the wrath of a frustrated Paulo Bento, had Derlei's spinning volley not flew straight into the arms of goalie Franco Costanzo.
Second Half
After the break, with Bento's words likely still ringing in his ears, Derlei came even closer. The classy Moutinho clipped a ball into his airspace and his header hit the post.
The two combined well again soon after and appealed for a penalty after David Abraham went shoulder to shoulder with Derlei in the box. The referee, though, wasn't having any of it.
Still, the goal was coming. On 53 minutes, Romagnoli surged through the visitors' defence and, despite being initially repelled by Abraham, his bundled follow-up looped into the net off Ret Zanni. It was fortuitous, but Sporting weren't complaining.
Sensing elimination, The RotBlau tried to take control of their own destiny. Carlitos' corner almost caught out Rui Patricio, but the starlet was more commanding when next called upon.
Clean though, Benjamin Huggel was denied by the onrushing youngster, who was off his line in a flash to snuff out the danger.
Shaken, the hosts decided it was time to kill off Bebbi and drag themselves back into Group C contention.
First, Yannick Djalo's shot was turned into the net by Derlei, only for the latter to be flagged offside.
Then, the overworked Derlei used his head to direct Miguel Veloso's corner onto the post.
Finally, with three minutes remaining, the Portuguese outfit grabbed the killer second they craved. Simon Vukcevic sent that man Derlei racing through with an intelligent pass and the Brazilian finished coolly over Costanzo.
Veloso came close to putting the icing on the cake, but Zanni's block sent the effort spinning wide.
Over the piece, Sporting were well worth the three points and Christian Gross' men have a mountain to climb in the group.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
0 comments:
Post a Comment