Roda overturn first-leg deficit

Roda JC showed enormous character at the Parkstad Limburg to recover from losing the first leg of their UEFA Cup tie with FC Girondins de Bordeaux to reach the fourth round 2-1 on aggregate.

Roche missing
Bordeaux, who won the first leg 1-0 in France two weeks ago, bossed the first half but failed to find the back of the net. The absence of key defender Alain Roche, who sprained his thigh in training on Monday night, proved costly as Elie Baup's side collapsed in the second half after the sending off of Laurent Batlles.

Converted penalty
The 26-year-old midfield player was dismissed by referee Fritz Stuchlik for deliberate handball in the box and the ensuing 56th-minute penalty was converted by Ioannis Anastasiou. Roda, who are second from bottom in the Eredivisise, clinched a memorable win eight minutes later. Garba Lawal's overhead kick was saved by Ulrich Ramé but the France goalkeeper carried the ball over his goalline.

Christian close
Bordeaux's ten men threw everything at Roda in the last 15 minutes and Christian went close to grabbing the away goal that would have put his side through when his deflected shot flew just wide.

'A real shame'
Baup was in no mood to talk at the end of the game. "This wasn't our day," he said. "We are out because we didn't score a second goal in the home leg." Defender David Sommeil added: "This is a real shame for us, and now we are going to have to concentrate on Le Championnat and the domestic cups."

'Compliment my players'
Roda coach George Leekens was undestandably delighted after his side made it to the fourth round for the first time in the club's history. "I was very satisfied with the performance as it is a long time since we qualified to play in Europe after the winter break," he said. "I have to compliment all my players because they forgot our domestic problems to start this game very confidently."

'Perfect tactics'
Leekens said that Bordeaux had better players individually, but his side's collective spirit helped them into the last 16 of the competition: "Bordeaux had a bad day. Our quality may be less but the tactics I used worked perfectly and we really imposed ourselves after they were reduced to ten men and we scored our first goal."