16/03/2010

Sevilla 1 - 2 CSKA Moscow: Champions League dream over for Sevilla

It was supposed to be a historic night for Sevilla. The first time they reached the last eight of the most pretigious competition in European football. Alvaro Negredo had given them the away goal, and with CSKA Moscow supposedly one of the weaker teams left in the Champions League, the second leg at the Sanchez Pizjuan was a one-way ticket to the holy grail. But they never turned up to the party. One of the few real chances they created was converted by Perotti, cancelling out Tomas Necids deflating opener, but that was a solitary moment of joy on a desparately dissappointing night in Nervion. The Russians were all over Sevilla when they didnt have the ball, and after the countless times they won it back, they were far more astute in possession. Keisuke Honda was an everpresent threat tucked in behind Necid, ably assisted by the stylish Milos Krasic and ex-Betis man Mark Gonzalez. There was always hope for the vociferous home support with the score at 1-1, but as soon as unfortunate Andres Palop (who has been magnificent this season) made an absolute dogs breakfast of Hondas free-kick to put CSKA back infront, they never looked like getting the two goals they needed to go through. The crowd concluded the match screaming for Manolo Jiminezs head, and he only has himself to blame for an overly cautious formation which saw Luis Fabiano horribly isolated in the final third. The manager has never really won over the Sanchez Pizjuan. This limp exit means he probably never will.

No comments:

Post a Comment