Sampdoria climb as rivals slip

There were mixed fortunes for the sides in action from UEFA Cup Group C at the weekend. FC Steaua Bucuresti closed the gap at the top of the Romanian First Division, while UC Sampdoria also tasted victory in Italy. Meanwhile, RC Lens could only draw, Hertha BSC Berlin were defeated and Halmstads BK had the luxury of looking on during their winter break.

BV Borussia Dortmund 2-0 Hertha BSC Berlin

Hertha failed in their bid to claim a first win in 33 years at the Westfalenstadion, after Polish international Euzebiusz Smolarek struck twice in the final five minutes of the first half to give Dortmund victory on Saturday. Hertha remain fifth in the Bundesliga, however, though they already trail leaders FC Bayern München by 13 points.

Hertha coach Falko Götz went into the match without Christian Müller (broken leg), and Gilberto (ankle) but Turkish midfield player Yildiray Bastürk and Croatian defender Josip Šimunić both returned. Bastürk shook off a thigh injury but had to settle for a place on the bench whereas Šimunić was restored to the starting lineup after missing the last league match against 1. FC Kaiserslautern through suspension.

"I am absolutely furious with my team," said Götz. "We have got some extremely important games coming up and I will talk to the players about their performance today. We invested a lot but are going home empty-handed."

RC Lens 0-0 FC Metz

Lens recorded their eighth draw in nine Ligue 1 games on Saturday as they hosted struggling FC Metz. In-form striker Daniel Cousin's shot against the crossbar on 21 minutes was the closest either team came to breaking the deadlock. The stalemate was Lens' second in succession after their rearranged match on 11 November at AC Ajaccio also ended goalless. The UEFA Intertoto Cup winners, who are ninth in the league standings, were missing Ivorian striker Aruna Dindane and French midfielder Alou Diarra, both on international duty.

Coach Francis Gillot has no injury worries but was unhappy with the result against Metz. He said: "Once more we lacked efficiency. Fortunately we did not concede a goal which enabled us to 'achieve' another draw. I replaced [Jérôme] Leroy and [Eric] Carrière with two genuine strikers but it had no effect. We need a steady win to bounce back, maybe on Thursday in Berlin".

Halmstads BK

With the 2005 Allsvenskan season complete, Halmstad decamped to Turkey for a week to prepare for their next Group C game against Sampdoria following their 5-0 reverse at Lens on Matchday 2, and coach Janne Andersson is delighted with how things have gone. "It's been a good week," he said. "We've had a number of good, high-tempo training sessions. A lot of players have done really well here and we're really looking forward to the Sampdoria game."

There was one minor setback for Andersson after Gunnar Heidar Thorvaldsson picked up a knock in training, but he is expected to recover, and the coach is expecting a clean bill of health on Thursday. "Kristoffer Fagercrantz has a stomach problem and Martin Fribrock has a cold," Andersson reflected, "but apart from that everything's fine and I think everyone should be OK on Thursday."

UC Sampdoria 2-0 S.S. Lazio

Second-half goals from substitutes Aimo Diana and Francesco Flachi helped Sampdoria to move up to fifth in Serie A as they defeated Lazio at home on Sunday. Captain Flachi celebrated his 100th Serie A appearance by supplying the assist for Diana, who broke the deadlock on the 71st minute, and by then scoring the winning goal himself two minutes later. Diana, who also scored in Italy's friendly against the Ivory Coast last Wednesday, said: "I scored an important goal today. I am really happy because I do not like to start from the substitutes' bench. I am glad Sampdoria won this match and that we are moving up in the standings."

Ahead of the UEFA Cup Group C game at Halmstads BK, coach Walter Novellino has no fresh injury concerns. Novellino has a full Sampdoria squad to choose from apart from long-term absentees Fabio Bazzani (knee) and Simone Pavan (back).

FC Steaua Bucuresti 4-1 FC Sportul Studentesc

Despite having to play behind closed doors following crowd trouble in their previous Romanian First Division match with AFC Rapid Bucuresti, champions Steaua experienced few difficulties in brushing aside Sportul for their first win in all competitions since 20 October. Steaua had also not scored in their four games since that date, a 4-0 UEFA Cup success against Lens on Matchday 1, but were quickly into their stride in Bucharest and had scored three times by half-time through Mirel Radoi, Nicolae Dica and Banel Nicolita before Constantin Iacob added a fourth early in the second period.

Steaua therefore ended a run of four league games without a win, a sequence that has allowed FC Dinamo Bucuresti to overhaul their city rivals at the top of the table. "The stands were quiet, like in the theatre," said Steaua owner Gigi Becali. "On the pitch, however, it was fun. We played so well, we deserve to be top of the league." Several Steaua players were on international duty last week, with defenders Dorin Goian and Mihai Nesu and midfielders Sorin Paraschiv - who missed the Sportul game through injury - Nicolita, Gabriel Bostina and Dica all representing Romania in their 2-1 defeat at the hands of the Ivory Coast and 3-0 victory against Nigeria.