Leverkusen survive Sion scare

Shock equaliser
Leading 1-0, Leverkusen suddenly found themselves staring elimination in the face when Sion, joint-leaders of the Swiss Super League, levelled through Gelson Fernandes in the 75th minute. With the teams tied 1-1 on aggregate, that away goal would have carried Sion through but 60 seconds later, Carsten Ramelow provided the perfect response to put Leverkusen back on track. Bernd Schneider added a late third from the penalty spot as the visitors ended the match with nine men.

Voronin shoots wide
There was little indication of the drama that would follow in a first half where Leverkusen, for all their effort, struggled to pick holes in the well-organised Sion back line. Paul Freier threatened with a couple of fierce drives around the 15-minute mark while on the half-hour, Joao Pinto's miskick inadvertently set up Andriy Voronin but with only goalkeeper Germano Vailati to beat, he shot wide.

Different script
Voronin was less wasteful in the 62nd minute as, following a period of Leverkusen pressure, he collected a Simon Rolfes pass and fired in from the edge of the box. If that was a cue for the hosts to kill off the tie, Sion were reading a different script and they silenced the BayArena when Fernandes rose unchallenged to head an equaliser.

Two red cards
Fortunately for Leverkusen, Ramelow restored their advantage moments later and Michael Skibbe's men were back on course. After Reset's 80th-minute sending-off for a second bookable offence, Kali followed him into the dressing room six minutes later after conceding a penalty which Schneider duly converted.