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IPSWICH RIDE LUCK IN MOSCOW WIN

IPSWICH survived a few nerve-jangling moments in Russia but booked their place in the Uefa Cup second round with a hard-fought 2-1 win over Torpedo Moscow courtesy of Finidi Geore's strike and a Marcus Stewart penalty.

The Tractor Boys dominated the early possession in Moscow as their Russian opponents seemed content to play a counter-attacking game.

But for all their dominance of the ball and neat passing it was Torpedo who produced the first clear-cut opening of the first 45 minutes.

On 22 minutes the Russians broke swiftly and when Aleksandr Shirko squared the ball to Dmitri Vyazmikin it looked certain to be 1-0 to Moscow.

However Vyazmikin, the top goalscorer in Russia, somehow managed to crash the ball against the crossbar with the goal at his mercy and Sereni helpless.

It was a major let-off for Ipswich but just a minute later the same player wreaked havoc in the Town rearguard and sliced an effort just wide of the right-hand post.

The second-half saw a rejuvenated Ipswich side take the game by the scruff of the neck and George Burley's men reaped the rewards with Nigerian ace 'Finidi' netting just two minutes after the interval.

A corner from the right saw Mark Venus head the ball into the danger area and a woeful clearance by a Torpedo defender allowed George to slot home.

Six minutes later the English visitors received a slice of good fortune with the French referee awarding a dubious penalty kick for shirt-pulling on George.

Stewart, who missed a penalty against Moscow in the first leg at Portman Road, made amends and coolly converted the spot-kick to give Town a 3-1 lead overall.

George Burley's men were buoyed by the goal blitz and took control of the match with the below-capacity crowd at the Luzhniki Stadium doing little to lift the shell-shocked hosts.

The Suffolk side rampaged forward in search of the final nail in the Russian's coffin but Torpedo produced a lightning counter-attack to reduce the arrears on 65 minutes.

Vyazmikin beat the offside trap and calmly swept the ball past the isolated Sereni.

The livewire front-man then almost levelled the scoreline in the 72nd minute but Ipswich hung on for a memorable win in Moscow.

For the match summary click below:

Torpedo Moscow 1 - 2 Ipswich Town