UEFA Cup

Sigma Olomouc 4 - Celta 3

Celta: Pinto; Coira, Sergio, Cáceres, Yago (Velasco 70'); Vagner (Giovanella 85'), Doriva; Edu, Boban, Jesuli (Berizzo70'); McCarthy. 4-2-3-1.

Goals:
0-1. 02. McCarthy. Received pass from Jesuli and beat Vaniek.
0-2. 32. Cáceres. Beat keeper from inside area after Boban corner.
1-2. 47. Siegl. Shot over advancing Pinto from inside area.
2-2. 57. Kotris. Header inside far post from unmarked position.
3-2. 58. Mücha. Picked up ball and shot from edge of area.
4-2. 64. Mücha. Another header from cross by Kobylik.
4-3. 89. Coira. Headed ball in after Kotris clearance came straight at him.

A Celta side full of reserves qualified comfortably for the second round of the UEFA cup. With a four goal lead from the first round this was always going to be a formality, and Víctor Fernández used the opportunity to give players such as Coira, Yago, Doriva and Benni McCarthy their first starts of the season. Benni McCarthy opened the scoring as early as the second minute after Jesuli won back the ball, and Cáceres took advantage of slackness in the defence on the half hour mark to control Boban's corner on the chest and volley the ball home.

It seemed to be a matter of how many the Spanish side could score, but after the break the Czech team came back with some inspired football (and some poor defending), scoring no less than four times in the 20 minutes from the restart. Siegl and half time substitute Kotris levelled the scores and then Mücha, who had replaced the injured ex Tenerife midfielder Hapal in the first half, got two more. Víctor urged his players to slow the game down, but even then Pinto had to stop them from adding a couple more before Coira made it 7-4 on aggregate in the last minute. Having not let a goal in all season this was a poor performance, but it was enough to see them through to meet another opponent from the Czech Republic in the next round, Slovan Liberec.