Grasshoppers are left leaping
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Article summary
Wisla Plock 3-2 Grasshopper-Club (agg: 3-3, Grasshopper-Club win on away goals Eduardo's late strike ends Wisla's hopes of progress.
Article body
Goals galore
Plock trailed 1-0 from the first leg in Switzerland, and goals from Antonio Dos Santos and Eduardo put paid to their hopes, despite the Polish side scoring three goals of their own, two from Dariusz Gesior and one from Sead Zilic, who was subsequently sent off.
Wary Plock
Dos Santos put the Swiss team ahead on 30 minutes, meeting a free-kick and finishing accurately to give his team a 2-0 aggregate lead with the first clear-cut chance of the match. Grasshoppers relied on a counterattacking game while Plock probed for the opening that could get them back into the tie.
Gesior double
Plock hit back just five minutes after the opening goal - following good work on the left flank from Pezsko, Darius Gesior rose highest to head in and equalise on the night. A spell of intense home pressure followed and after successive corners Gesior again proved his aerial superiority, finding the net with another header and achieving a 2-2 parity on aggregate for Plock, though they still trailed on away goals.
Plock spirit
The third Plock goal duly arrived after the break - Vahan Gevorgyan creating the space for Zilic who finished to spark wild celebrations. The Polish team led the tie for the first time with just 20 minutes remaining, but after Zilic removed his shirt to mark his goal the referee accordingly booked him.
Zilic off
It was to prove to be a costly error as Zilic was shown a second yellow card for a foul just three minutes later. The sending-off seemed to hand the initiative back to Grasshoppers and when a corner kick was only partially cleared on 83 minutes, Brazilian Eduardo was on hand to smash the ball in from 20 metres.
Home sadness
Plock were left shattered that they had thrown away a golden opportunity having been ahead but the final whistle saw Grasshoppers celebrate their progress to Friday's draw.