Ivica Dragutinovic's comical own goal ensured Unirea Urziceni remain on course for progression as they beat Sevilla 1-0.
Petrescu's boys seal famous win with qualification nearing
Ivica Dragutinovic's comical own goal ensured Romanian minnows Unirea Urziceni remain on course for progression as they beat Sevilla 1-0 in the UEFA Champions League.
Sevilla started the night as one of eight unbeaten teams in this season's competition and with qualification from Group G already assured, the Spanish side approached the game lacking any real ambition.
The only goal of the game came in bizarre circumstances as Dragutinovic headed past his own goalkeeper in first-half injury-time when under no pressure from any opposing players.
The win means a draw away to Stuttgart in the final fixture will seal progression to the knockout stages for Dan Petrescu's men after the Germans won 2-0 against Rangers in the group's other fixture.
The home side were denied an opener in the first minute after left-back Pablo Brandan turned the ball in amid a goalmouth scramble.
However, Norwegian referee Tom Ovrebo ruled out the strike for an offside against Marius Bilasco from Iulian Apostol's original free-kick delivery.
The early warning sign woke the Spanish side up as they looked to take control and they were almost in front in the eighth minute as Frederic Kanoute struck the post with Gonzalez Jesus Navas failing to hit the target from the rebound.
Alvaro Negredo, who awaits his first goal in the UEFA Champions League, went for the spectacular after 17 minutes but he failed to hit the target with his attempted chip with Giedrius Arlauskis scrambling for position in the Urziceni goal
Negredo almost opened his account two minutes later as Sevilla struck the woodwork for the second time with the striker's tight-angled header rebounding off the crossbar.
Frustration
The home side's frustration began to show as the Liga giants began to dominate possession and Ricardo Gomes Vilana was the first name in the book for a late challenge on Sevilla's Diego Capel.
Sevilla continued to dictate the play without any real urgency, comfortable in the knowledge that they had secured their progression to the knockout stage prior to the game.
Ricardo's tame effort from all of 35 yards two minutes before the break did little to trouble Javi Varas in the Sevilla goal as Unirea looked unlikely to halt the domination of their guests.
However, moments later Dragutinovic inadvertently directed a header past his keeper when completely unchallenged from a Brandan free-kick on the stroke of half-time.
The goal came entirely against the run of play and no doubt gave Sevilla boss Manolo Jimenez a half-time headache as his team were seemingly cruising with the break seconds away.
Negredo again signalled his intentions to open his European account as he went close with a powerful free-kick within the first minute of the restart, narrowly evading the crossbar.
Soon after, Apostol became the second player to be booked after his late tackle from behind on Navas before the Sevilla man picked up a yellow of his own for unsporting behaviour after 52 minutes.
Three minutes later and the hosts could have doubled their lead as Dacian Varga latched onto a Bilasco flick-on before driving a shot straight at Varas in Sevilla's goal, with the keeper parrying the shot to safety.
Confidence
The Romanians began to grow in confidence, playing with much more fluency by the hour mark than they had done in the entire first half.
Varga almost capped the spell with a second goal as he collected another Bilasco flick-on before turning Sevilla defender Fernando Navarro and arrowing a shot into the side-netting on 61 minutes.
Bilasco continued to cause Sevilla problems with his aerial prowess as he nodded the ball back across the face of the goal but substitute Tiberiu Balan was unable to get a toe on it.
In an entire turnaround of the balance of play from the first period, Sevilla were then reduced to speculative long-range efforts with Navas guilty of some wayward shooting.
Varga came close to doubling his side's advantage again on 74 minutes as his alertness got the better of Navarro once more when he cut inside and narrowly missed the top corner with a fierce left-foot drive.
Substitute Diego Perotti fired a warning sign at the other end, however, as he forced Arlauskis to parry at his near-post with just eight minutes left on the clock.
Sevilla then began to take control over a tired Urziceni side, with the Romanians needing some last-ditch defending to prevent an equaliser.
Arlauskis was the stoppage-time hero as he denied what seemed a certain goal as Abdoulay Konko's close-range effort was tipped over the bar.
Luis Fabiano almost scored seconds later but the substitute fluffed his lines when well placed, finding the side-netting as Unirea held on for a famous victory.
| Unirea Urziceni |
Team Statistics |
Sevilla |
| 1 |
Goals |
0 |
| 1 |
1st Half Goals |
0 |
| 1 |
Shots on Target |
2 |
| 3 |
Shots off Target |
10 |
| 1 |
Blocked Shots |
2 |
| 2 |
Corners |
5 |
| 23 |
Fouls |
11 |
| 5 |
Offsides |
1 |
| 4 |
Yellow Cards |
1 |
| 0 |
Red Cards |
0 |
| 59.1 |
Passing Success |
83.7 |
| 25 |
Tackles |
18 |
| 84 |
Tackles Success |
88.9 |
| 26.3 |
Possession |
73.7 |
| 39.5 |
Territorial Advantage |
60.5 |
|
