Stuttgart leapfrog Unirea into knockout phase

Stuttgart qualified for the Champions League knockout phase at the expense of Unirea Urziceni, beating the Romanians 3-1 on Wednesday with three goals in the first 11 minutes.

كتب : Hatem Maher

الخميس، 10 ديسمبر 2009 - 01:02
Stuttgart qualified for the Champions League knockout phase at the expense of Unirea Urziceni, beating the Romanians 3-1 on Wednesday with three goals in the first 11 minutes.

Ciprian Marica put the German side ahead after five minutes with a close range header and Christian Traesch doubled the advantage three minutes later.

Russian striker Pavel Pogrebnyak added the third on 11 minutes after a fine individual effort.

Unirea narrowed the gap with a goal from Antonio Semedo early in the second half but Stuttgart held on for a valuable win.

Stuttgart moved ahead of Unirea, who have eight points and will play in the Europa League, on nine points in Group G.

Already-qualified Sevilla, who progressed as the group winners, defeated Scottish side Rangers with a penalty from Malian striker Fredi Kanoute.