Round-up: Clean sweep for French sides

UEFA Intertoto Cup 'holders' ES Troyes Aube Champagne joined their fellow 2001 tournament winners Aston Villa FC in the semi-finals by the narrowest of margins after progressing past NAC Breda on away goals.

Goalless game
Troyes had drawn the first leg in the Netherlands 1-1, and their strike in that match from striker Frédéric Danjou proved crucial as the return in France finished goalless, allowing the home team to move to within two ties of another UEFA Cup place.

Progress for LOSC
Lille OSC also continued France's good record in the competition with a 1-0 victory against Romanian outfit CF Gloria Bistrita 1922. Already holding a 2-0 lead in the tie from the first leg, LOSC added a third in the second half at the Grimonprez-Jooris stadium through Fernando D'Amico to make sure of their progress to the semi-finals.

European pedigree
Lille, UEFA Champions League group stage participants last season, will now square off against Villa after the English side defeated FC Zürich 3-0 to eradicate the memory of their 2-0 first-leg loss. Michael Boulding, a former tennis professional recently signed from Grimsby Town FC, was on target for Villa, European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1982, along with Marcus Allbäck and Steve Staunton.

French clean sweep
FC Sochaux-Montbéliard made it a clean sweep for the French sides in the third round, despite being held at home by Czech team 1. FC Synot. The 0-0 draw proved enough for Sochaux thanks to their 3-0 win in the Czech Republic last week, the largest away victory of the first-leg matches. They will also face English opposition in the next round after Fulham FC edged past Egaleo FC 2-1 on aggregate.

Marlet makes sure
The London club were in the ascendancy following their 1-0 first-leg home win but Giannis Chloros levelled the tie in the 24th minute. Steve Marlet scored the decisive goal ten minutes later to edge Jean Tigana's side closer to the UEFA Cup.

Willem comeback
Dutch side Willem II turned around a two-goal deficit against Russian outfit FC Krylya Sovetov Samara to progress with a 2-0 victory. Having trailed 3-1 at the start of play, the hosts knew that a 2-0 scoreline would put them through on away goals. They got their first on 37 minutes from Christiaan Janssens, but had to wait until seven minutes from time before Tarik Sektioui struck an all-important second.

Semi-final place for Málaga
Willem will face Málaga CF in the next round after the Spanish side made comfortable progress to the semi-finals, advancing 4-1 on aggregate against KAA Gent after the second leg in Belgium finished 1-1. Alexandros Kaklamanos gave Gent hope of overturning their three-goal deficit from the first match with a goal 41 minutes into the return, but any hope of a comeback was extinguished in the final seconds when Julio César Dely Valdés levelled on the night for Málaga.

Late show in Spain
There was drama in tonight's late game as Villarreal CF overturned a 2-0 deficit against Torino Calcio to take the game into extra time. Javier Calleja put Villarreal ahead in Spain with a 51st-minute goal, and the pressure was on the visitors after Rodolfo Arruabarrena scored the Primera División side's second after 67 minutes. Torino's Cristiano Lucarelli and Villarreal's Quique Álvarez were both dismissed in separate incidents in extra time but the home side eventually prevailed with a 4-2 penalty shoot-out win to earn a semi-final game against Troyes.