Juventus Progress Despite Home Defeat By Olympiakos
Copyright � 1999 Nando Media
Copyright � 1999 Agence France-Presse
PALERMO, Italy, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Juventus suffered a 2-1 "home" defeat at the hands of Olympiakos Piraeus on Tuesday but still progressed to the fourth round of the UEFA Cup 4-3 on aggregate. Playing in Sicily where they have strong fan base, Juventus took the lead in the second minute when Yugoslav striker Darko Kovacevic found the target with a powerful strike on the turn - his 10th goal in European competition this season.
The Greek side drew level seven minutes before the break when another Yugoslav, Predrag Djordjevic, floated a beautiful left foot chip over Juventus goalkeeper Michelangelo Rampulla.
The Italians came close to regaining the lead in the 56th minute when Jonathan Bachini clipped the bar with a cross-shot from the left and Kovacevic twice forced good saves out of Greek goalkeeper Dimitrios Eleftheropoulos.
Substitute Gianluca Zambrotta hit the post 10 minutes from the end as Juventus proved unable to turn their dominance into goals.
And they were left sweating at the end after Olympiakos went 2-1 up on the night in the 82nd minute when Paolo Montero was judged to have brought down Djordjevic who rose to convert the penalty. Despite intense pressure in the final minutes the Greeks were unable to find a goal to take the game into extra time and after elimination from the Champions League must now say farewell to the UEFA Cup.
