February 2011
UEFA Cup 1st Round 2nd Leg...
Six-Gun Ascoli's Historic Comeback
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The UEFA Cup witnessed one of its most dramatic comebacks ever last night, as Serie A outfit Ascoli defied belief in overcoming a five-goal defecit to dump PSV Eindhoven out of the competition. Trailing 5-0 from the first leg in Holland, the Italian side returned the favour and added a controversial sixth in extra time to achieve the impossible.
Two key turning points transformed this apparently routine second leg into a night of intense drama. In injury time at the end of the first half, with Ascoli leading 2-0, inexperienced PSV goalkeeper Nathan Coe fumbled a ball that he should have comfortably held and Matteo Brighi gleefully lashed the rebound into the exposed net, and Ascoli were suddenly gifted a 3-0 platform at half-time with the home crowd going mad and starting to believe.
Francileudo dos Santos crucially stoked the flames further with a slightly fortuitous fourth goal early in the second half, and with everything going Ascoli's way, the comeback was most definitely on. Ronald Koeman was forced into tactical changes to try and reinforce his crumbling team, and Vennegoor of Hesselink was substituted wondering if his herculean efforts in the first leg would be enough after all - he had enjoyed nothing like that kind of service in the second leg.
Not one of Ron's better nights...
It was left to man-of-the-match Matteo Brighi to complete what was looking increasingly inevitable, Ascoli's influential midfield general exchanging passes with Fini before rifling the fifth goal in off a post with four minutes to go, and the front-row natives almost spilled over the barriers in euphoria.
Premature? Extra time beckoned and PSV finally awakened, so late in the day, when tricky DaMarcus Beasley was introduced on the left wing, the man who had done so much damage in the first leg. Indeed, Jefferson Farfan then crashed a free-kick off the top of the crossbar in extra-time and Ascoli's momentum seemed to falter.
To PSV's great anguish, however, the tie would be decided by the official. With penalties already fast approaching, Graham Poll decided he didn't want to wait... Ascoli sub Adolfo Speranza wriggled into the area and went down under the attentions of Stefano Seedorf, with minimal contact visible, and the English referee pointed generously to the spot. Dos Santos, a man who thrives in such high-pressure situations, calmly stroked the spot-kick home to become the late hero and make history.
UEFA Cup Quarter-Final draw:
AS Monaco v Real Madrid
Ascoli Calcio v Bayer Leverkusen
Sparta Prague v Aston Villa
Udinese v Bayern Munich