Away goal spares Spartak

FC Spartak Moskva will face Czech side FC Slovan Liberec in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League after a goalless draw in Moscow earned them an away-goal victory against Moldovan champions FC Sheriff.

Early chances
Vladimir Fedotov's side made plenty of attacking moves in the opening period with Fernando Cavenaghi, Maxym Kalinichenko and Radoslav Kováč - the scorer of the solitary first-leg goal in Tiraspol - all missing good chances before George Florescu passed up a good opportunity on the break for Sheriff after 18 minutes. Spartak continued to hold the upper hand with captain Yegor Titov shooting wide on the half hour before Roman Pavlyuchenko headed over when well-placed. Titov looked dangerous after the break but was substituted on 50 minutes after picking up an injury in an aerial collision.

Titov injured
To make matters worse for Spartak, Titov's replacement Quincy Owusu-Abeyie was taken off with an injury 15 minutes later, and as the busy Marian Pirsa tested Spartak goalkeeper Wojciech Kowalewski with a shot from a tight angle after 59 minutes, the game showed signs of turning in the visitors' favour. Spartak sat back in the final 20 minutes to defend their slender advantage, but despite a barrage of long balls from Sheriff they held on, although goalkeeper Kowalewski gave the home side some heart-in-the-mouth moments in added time as he nervously dealt with some set-piece moves.