AEK advance despite Villarreal defeat
Thursday, December 20, 2007
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AEK Athens FC 1-2 Villarreal CF Rio Antonio Mavuba and Jon Dahl Tomasson sealed first place in Group C as AEK qualified thanks to results elsewhere.
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AEK Athens FC reached the Round of 32 despite ending their UEFA Cup Group C campaign with a home defeat by section winners Villarreal CF.
Villarreal triumphant
Goals from Rio Antonio Mavuba and Jon Dahl Tomasson confirmed the visitors' place at the top of Group C, while the hosts progressed in third place thanks to FK Mladá Boleslav's 2-1 loss at ACF Fiorentina. Rivaldo had equalised for AEK midway through the second period but events in Italy meant the Greek side qualified for Friday's draw regardless of their own result.
Lively opening
Rivaldo enjoyed the first chance of the match, the Brazilian's volley from the edge of the Villarreal area failing to trouble Diego López, and Giuseppe Rossi then came close for the visitors on 22 minutes, his effort tipped round the post by the diving Jürgen Macho. Javi Venta was next to try his luck from distance for the visitors, for whom Tomasson was unlucky to see his lob drop just over the bar moments later.
Woodwork rattled
Matías Fernández continued the Villarreal dominance with an effort on 38 minutes that brought another block from Macho, but the breakthrough finally arrived five minutes before the interval, Mavuba firing low beyond Macho from inside the area after collecting a Fernández pass. Lorenzo Serra Ferrer's AEK side looked a different proposition after the break, although the Spanish side came close to extending their lead when Fernández rattled the crossbar after Sokratis Papastathopoulos hauled down Tomasson just outside the penalty area.
Quick reply
The game then burst into life midway through the half as AEK restored parity. Fabio Fuentes felled Nikolaos Liberopoulos 20 metres from goal and Rivaldo showed his class with a trademark free-kick into the left corner of the net. However, the home fans' joy was short-lived as the Villarreal restored their lead within 60 seconds, Tomasson supplying a low left-footed finish beyond Macho after being played in by Guillermo Franco – but both sides were celebrating once new from Florence filtered through.