Umeå advance to semi-finals

Holders Umeå IK booked their place in the semi-finals of the UEFA Women's Cup with a 2-1 win at home to FC Energy Voronezh in the quarter-final second leg.

Aggregate success
The result completed a 4-2 aggregate victory for the Swedish side, who will now take part in the semi-finals of the competition, which will be played in the spring.

First-leg lead
Leading 2-1 after the first leg in Russia thanks to goals from Jessica Julin and Hanna Marklund, Umeå kicked off at the Gammliavallen stadium in Umea confident of progressing to the last four. The flow of the first half of the game was broken up with a succession of petty fouls, with Umeå defender Sofia Eriksson and Tatiana Zaitseva, the Energy Voronezh defender, both shown the yellow card in the opening 45 minutes.

Own goal
The home side had looked solid throughout, and took the lead on the hour. A corner was met by defender Sanna Valkonen, and her effort was deflected into the net by Energy Voronezh defender Nataliya Degai to give Umeå a two-goal cushion overall.

Quick response
The goal left the Russian side with it all to do, but they got back into the tie almost immediately, drawing level on the night five minutes later as defender Natalia Sitnikova headed a free-kick into the net to revive the visitors' hopes. The holders looked visibly nervous after conceding, and Valkonen was booked as Umeå strove to keep the away side at bay.

Late clincher
Energy Voronezh continued to press forward in search of the goal that would have taken the tie into extra time, but were unable to break down the home side's defence. As time ran out the Russian team committed more players forward in search of the crucial goal, and Umeå took full advantage of the extra space as Swedish international Hanna Ljungberg scored the winning goal in the final minute.

Winning farewell
The result delighted Umeå coach Richard Holmlund, who is stepping down after five years at the helm. "It feels great to end my tenure here as a winner," Holmlund said. "Now we'll celebrate this victory and then we'll part company. I'm sure that Umeå will continue to play well."