Bordeaux deny plucky Petržalka

Despite squandering enough chances to win two games, a 1-1 draw on the night against FC Artmedia Petržalka in Bratislava proved enough to give FC Girondins de Bordeaux a 3-1 aggregate victory.

Petržalka home bow
The Slovakian side began their first ever home match in Europe at neighbours ŠK Slovan Bratislava’s Tehelné Pole stadium, because their own ground currently has no floodlighting. They started positively, although the first chance of the match fell to Bordeaux's Feindouno Pascal, the striker from Guinea firing into the side-netting from close range.

Darcheville misses
From then on the French side took control of the half, putting behind them the domestic woes which have seen them slip to 15th in Ligue 1. On 22 minutes Jean-Claude Darcheville missed the first of several chances, blazing over after latching on to a long ball from Mauricio Pochettino.

Lipcák flying save
Six minutes later Petržalka goalkeeper Martin Lipcák needed to be alert, tipping over a 20-metre strike from Pascal after a nice one-two with Albert Riera. This was shortly followed by two more Darcheville misses, as he failed to convert a free header and hammered a volley against the base of the post.

Slovakian superiority
Petržalka survived the barrage until half-time and came out after the break a different side, as they took the game to their more illustrious opponents, the 1996 UEFA Cup finalists. However, despite enjoying more possession the Slovakian Superliga team found it difficult to create any clear-cut chances: their best being a Gábor Straka header, well wide of the target from a corner.

Riera denied
Bordeaux meanwhile were looking dangerous on the break and Darcheville was again to blame as another chance went begging on 54 minutes. This time the 28-year-old hit a low shot wide from the edge of the penalty area. And eight minutes from time Riera was denied from close range by a fantastic point-blank save by Lipcák.

Darcheville delivers
With just four minutes left on the clock the breakthrough finally arrived for Bordeaux and it was appropriate that Darcheville should be rewarded for his persistence. He slotted calmly into the back of the net after racing through a gaping hole in the Slovakian side's defence.

Frantic finale

Weiss satisfied
Afterwards Petržalka coach Vladimír Weiss reflected on his side's exit from the tournament, saying: "I cannot criticize my team, they did not make it simple for Bordeaux and a draw with them is a really good result for us."