Champions League action resumes with drama
Real Madrid ground out a 2-0 victory at Wisla Krakow and Man-chester United needed an own goal to scrape a 2-1 win at Dinamo Bucharest in Champions League third qualifying round first leg matches on Wednesday.
PHOTO: EPA
There was frustration for two other favorites bidding for a place in the lucrative group phase when Inter Milan drew 1-1 in Basel and last season's semifinalists Deportivo Coruna were held to a shock 0-0 draw by Shelbourne in Dublin.
There were no such problems for last season's finalists Monaco, who trounced Nova Gorica of Slovenia 3-0 with 10 men, or Bayer Leverkusen who thrashed Banik Ostrava 5-0, while 1991 champions Red Star Belgrade edged PSV Eindhoven 3-2 at home.
Real Madrid 2 Wisla Krakow 0
Fernando Morientes grabbed a late double to give Real Madrid a workmanlike 2-0 win over Wisla Krakow in the first leg of their third round Champions League qualifier on Wednesday.
Morientes, returning to competitive action for the club after last season's loan spell at Monaco, struck when David Beckham sent in a well-weighted cross in the 72nd minute.
He added a second on the stroke of full-time, converting a cross from Roberto Carlos to take Real into the home leg of the tie with a comfortable advantage.
Morientes started on the bench but his introduction after 68 minutes for playmaker Zinedine Zidane seemed to pour cold water on media speculation that Real were ready to let him go in part exchange for Liverpool striker Michael Owen.
New Real coach Jose Antonio Camacho confirmed as much after the match, saying: "There are no plans relating to Morientes leaving the club." Regarding a move for Owen, he added cryptically: "I've heard that the decisions have been made."
Until Morientes came on Real had looked sluggish and only threatened in spells against a Krakow team desperate to be the first Poles to reach the group stage since Widzew Lodz in 1998.
Real's best chances came in the first five minutes when Brazil's Roberto Carlos hit a close-range shot straight at Krakow goalkeeper Radoslaw Majdan and Raul was inches from reaching a Luis Figo cross at the far post.
Zidane and Ronaldo also fluffed chances in the box later in the first half, with Wisla's response limited to a scrambled half-chance for Nigerian international Kalu Uche.
The Poles did better in the second half with a stinging 20m drive from Argentine Mauro Cantoro and a mazy run and shot from Poland striker Maciej Zurawski the closest they came to scoring from a series of openings.
Man U 2 Dinamo Bucharest 1
United, missing seven first-team players through injury, suspension and Olympic duty, made a nightmare start when Dinamo striker Ionel Danciulescu's angled shot was turned into the net by South African defender Quinton Fortune after 10 minutes.
Ryan Giggs settled the FA Cup holders' nerves in the 38th minute of the first leg tie, collecting a superb defense-splitting pass from Paul Scholes, rounding the keeper and coolly slotting home.
"Giggs' goal coming from Manchester's single clear opportunity at the end of the first half destroyed my players' morale," Dinamo Bucharest coach Ioan Andone said.
"But this is the mark of a great team -- converting few opportunities into goals. Manchester deserved the victory because of their excellent organization."
United's new striker Alan Smith hit the post just after the break but the pressure finally paid off when United substitute Liam Miller crossed from the right and Dinamo defender Angelo Alistar knocked the ball into his own net.
Though Smith later had a header disallowed, the win leaves United needing only a draw in the second leg at Old Trafford in two weeks' time to reach the group phase of the competition.
Smith told Britain's ITV television: "All the lads have battled hard. We came here looking to get a positive result, we knew we could score away from home and we've done that twice. It's a good win."
Inter Milan 1 Basel 1
Basel, who made it through to the group phase in 2002/03, made a strong start but were caught out after 19 minutes when Brazilian striker Adriano fired Inter ahead.
The Swiss side continued to attack, however and levelled the match six minutes later when central midfielder Benjamin Huggel headed Julio Rossi's left wing cross past Francesco Toldo from close range.
Inter twice hit the woodwork in the opening half, Dejan Stankovic's long-range shot coming off the left-hand post and Ze Maria striking the crossbar from eight meters.
Basel had the better chances in the second half and Huggel struck the post after breaking into the Inter penalty area. The second leg will be played at San Siro in two weeks.
Monaco 3 Nova Gorica 0
A goal in each half from striker Mohamed Kallon gave 10-man Monaco a 3-0 win in the first leg of their Champions League third qualifying round at Slovenian champions Nova Gorica.
Monaco defender Patrice Evra was sent off for his second bookable offence on 53 minutes after he brought down Andrej Komac.
Last year's Champions League finalists, Monaco dominated the early exchanges and Kallon put them ahead in the ninth minute with a powerful shot from just inside the penalty area after Nova Gorica's defense failed to clear the ball.
The principality side could have added to their tally before the end of the half but Ernesto Chevanton and Kallon wasted good chances.
Aleksander Rodic fired the first shot on Monaco's goal for the Slovenian club on 52 minutes and striker Jani Sturm wasted their best scoring opportunity midway through the second half.
New signing Chevanton doubled Monaco's lead when he struck home the rebound after his first attempt hit the post. Kallon completed the scoring with a minute to play.
Red Star Belgrade 3 PSV Eindhoven 2
Two set pieces and a swift break gave Red Star Belgrade a 3-2 win over PSV Eindhoven in the first leg of their Champions league third qualifying round tie on Wednesday.
PSV took an eighth-minute lead through Korean striker Ji Sung Park with a crisp shot from the edge of the penalty box.
The home team, cheered by a crowd of 56,000, turned the match around with a 29th-minute header from defender Milan Dudic and a superb Bosko Jankovic free kick 10 minutes later.
Red Star took a 3-1 lead on the hour when striker Marko Pantelic headed home a good cross by Milan Bisevac but John de Jong silenced the home fans in the 66th minute when he slotted in a rebound for PSV.
Zidane quits France
Zinedine Zidane has decided to stop playing for France, French sports daily l'Equipe said yesterday, provoking a bout of hand-wringing from distraught fans for whom "Zizou" is a national hero.
"The idea of never seeing Zidane wearing the blue shirt again is unbearable," l'Equipe said in an editorial, reflecting widespread sorrow at the prospective international retirement of one of the players who helped France to their 1998 World Cup win.
Zidane was expected to announce his decision officially on pay-television channel Canal Plus yesterday.
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