| Slovan Liberec Dinamo Tbilisi |
| FC Dinamo Tbilisi came from two goals down to give themselves hope in their UEFA Cup first round tie against Czech Republic champions FC Slovan Liberec. Liberec, quarter-finalists in the competition last season, continued where they left off, making a lively start even though they were without the suspended David Langer. Dinamo were only able to hold out for 19 minutes before Liberec struck. Opening goals Jan Pol�k, making his UEFA Cup debut following his recent transfer from 1. FC Brno, found Jan Nezmar, and the striker, returning to the starting lineup after five weeks absence, made no mistake. Seven minutes later it was 2-0 to the home side, with Martin Zbonc�k scoring after Nezmar had spurned the initial chance. However, the visitors refused to be daunted. They relied on counter-attacks and their game plan paid dividends three minutes after the interval. Vitali Daraselia capitalised on an error by home defender Petr Johana to pull a goal back. Ghanaian substitute Baffour Gyan then restored Slovan's two-goal advantage only three minutes after his arrival, pouncing from Bohuslav Piln�'s free-kick. Still Dinamo fought back and George Anchabadze reduced the deficit again in the 67th minute. Slovan tried desperately to restore their two-goal cushion but were thwarted by the agility of goalkeeper David Gvaramadze who stopped a& Zbonc�k header. It leaves Dinamo needing just a 1-0 win at home in the return leg to advance. Slovan coach Ladislav Skorpil was not satisfied with his team's performance. "We have conceded too many goals recently. We must change it before the return match," he said before admitting he had been afraid after the second visitors' goal. "I feared that we will repeat our last league match," he said, referring to the fact that his team led 3-0 against FK Jablonec 97 on Monday only to end with a 3-3 draw. Meanwhile, Dinamo coach Ivan Susak was delighted with the outcome and said: "I persuaded my players during the half-time break that nothing is over. We pulled back thanks to an early goal after the restart. Liberec are still the favourites but the return leg will be intersting for the fans now." Teams: Referee: KOSTADINOV Kostadin (BUL) Booked: Nezmar (Liberec) Attendance: 5,100 Pictures: |
| 19th September |
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| Gogoberishvili challenges for the ball |
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| HT: 2-0 |
| Slovan Liberec |
| Dinamo Tbilisi |
| 1 Kinsky 2 Capek 6 Zbonc�k 7 Nezmar 8 Slepicka (3 Gyan, 57) 10 Hod�r (20 Blaha, 75) 11 Holen�k 12 Pol�k 14 Johana 17 Janu 22 Pilny Subs Not Used: 30 Hauzr 4 Ancic 5 Z�potocny 13 Holo�ko 19 Koc� |
| 22 Gvaramadze 3 Kandelaki 4 Vashakidze 5 Shashiashvili 6 Sakhvadze (16 Kvirkvelia, 81) 8 Burduli 9 Daraselia 10 Anchabadze 19 Da Rosha 21 Gogoberishvili 24 Amisulashvili Subs Not Used: 1 Zoidze 7 Maziashvili 11 Bobokhidze 20 Mikadze 23 Samkharadze 25 Khizaneishvili |
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| Burduli heads the ball |
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| Anchabadze heads the ball |
| Burduli heads the ball |
| Gvaramadze catches the ball |
| Da Rocha consoles a Liberec player |
| Amisulashvili wins the ball |
| Gogoberishvili is beaten |