| You are in: You are in: Football: Uefa Cup |
![]() | Hibs crash in extra time ![]() Francisco Luna celebrates after scoring Hibernian 3-2 AEK Athens (Agg: 3-4 after extra time) Two extra-time goals by Vassilis Tsartas were enough to end Hibernian's dream of a great fightback to victory over AEK Athens. The Edinburgh side had dominated the game as two goals from Francisco Luna cancelled out the Greeks' first-leg advantage. Luna missed his chance for a glorious hat-trick when he headed wide from close range in the dying seconds of normal time. And Hibs paid for that as Tsartas scored with a superb strike two minutes into extra time then added another with a flick from a corner before David Zitelli's wonderful 30-yard strike gave the home side a late consolation. Hibs had made two changes to the side that thumped St Johnstone 4-0 on Sunday. The shaky nerves Former European Cup winner Franck Sauzee and veteran striker Craig Brewster were back in the side for Grant Brebner and Allan Smart. Goalkeeper Erias Atmatsidis, midfielders Christos Maladenis, Andreas Zikos and Milan Petkov, plus defender Nikos Georgeas were all missing for AEK.
The goal for which the home side had been waiting came in the 53rd minute. De La Cruz's cross was flicked back into the danger area by Brewster for Murray to direct it back across goal and Luna popped up to head home from close range. Hibs were almost got caught on the break, but Sotiris Konstantinidis' shot flashed just the wrong side of the post. Brewster fired just wide at the other end then Luna's header was saved by Chiotis from point-blank range. Seemed little danger Hibs lost Sauzee through injury but got a deserved equaliser with nine minutes remaining. Laursen ghosted in at the far post to head O'Neil's free-kick across goal and Luna fired through a crowd of players. Luna should have won it with the last touch of the 90 minutes when he somehow headed wide from De la Cruz's cross. There seemed to be little danger when Tsartas picked the ball up 25 yards out but sent the ball into the corner with only two minutes of extra time gone. The same player then got the head flick to a corner after 105 minutes that killed Hibs off, although Zitelli added a winner on the night. Hibernian: Colgan, Fenwick, Sauzee, Murray, Orman, De la Cruz, Jack, O'Neil, Laursen, Brewster, Luna. Subs: Caig, Brebner, Townsley, Andrews, Smart, McManus, Zitelli. AEK Athens: Chiotis, Marcia, Ramos, Gamarra, Kasapis, Lakis, Zagorakis, Akis Zikos, Costenoglu, Konstantinidis, Demis Nikolaidis. Subs: Lymperopoulos, Vassilis Tsartas, Mielcarski, Kola, Kappos, Karagiannis, Navas. Referee: J Granat. |
European predictions More news on this club Other top Uefa Cup stories: Links to more Uefa Cup stories are at the foot of the page. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Links to more Uefa Cup stories |
| ^^ Back to top | ||
| Front Page | Football | Cricket | Rugby Union | Rugby League | Tennis | Golf | Motorsport | Boxing | Athletics | Other Sports | Sports Talk | In Depth | Photo Galleries | Audio/Video | TV & Radio | BBC Pundits | Question of Sport | Funny Old Game ------------------------------------------------------------ BBC News >> | BBC Weather >> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- © MMII|News Sources|Privacy | ||