Red Star and Man City storm to flying starts in UEFA Cup ( 2003-08-15 09:15) (Agencies)
Manchester City, making a long-awaited return to the competition, and former
European champions Red Star Belgrade got off to flying starts in the UEFA Cup
with 5-0 victories in Thursday's qualifiers.
Torpedo Moscow also made their mark in the line-up of 37 games when they were
another side to hit five in the first-leg of the qualifying round.
Nikola Zigic scored a hat-trick in the Serbia and Montenegro side's thrashing
of Nistru Otaci of Moldova. Nemanja Vidic and Branko Boskovic wrapped up the win
for Red Star, who won the European Cup in 1991.
Manchester City, so long in the shadow of local rivals United, were playing
their first European match for 24 years when they crushed Welsh part-timers TNS
Llansantffraid in the first competitive match at their new City of Manchester
Stadium.
England midfielder Trevor Sinclair opened the scoring after 14 minutes and
Shaun Wright-Phillips, Chinese defender Sun Jihai, David Sommeil and striker
Nicolas Anelka provided the other four goals, all in the second half.
City, who won the Cup Winners Cup in 1970, last played in Europe in the
1978-79 season, when they lost to eventual winners Borussia Moenchengladbach in
the UEFA Cup quarter-finals.
The English premier league side qualified for this season's competition via
the Fair Play league after finishing ninth last season.
Steaua Bucharest, European champions in 1986, were held to a 1-1 draw at
Neman Grodno in Belarus. The Romanians looked to be heading for defeat when
Dmitry Dolya put the home side ahead on 70 minutes before Daniel Oprita got a
last-gasp equaliser.
ASTRO DEBUT
Torpedo Moscow crushed mostly amateur San Marino side Domagnano 5-0 in a game
which was also notable for the debut of astro-turf in European club competition.
The Russians received permission from UEFA last week to stage the match on
the artificial surface.
There was another notable first in Sweden where 36-year-old Swiss Nicole
Petignat became the first woman to referee a UEFA Cup match when she took charge
of AIK Stockholm's 1-0 win over Fylkir from Iceland.
RC Lens, who finished above Bayern Munich in a Champions League group that
also contained Deportivo Coruna and eventual champions AC Milan last season,
started well in their UEFA Cup campaign with a 3-0 win over Torpedo Kutaisi of
Georgia.
The 16 teams knocked out of the Champions League third qualifying round will
enter the UEFA Cup in the next round, along with three "winners" of the
Intertoto Cup.
A further eight teams, who finish third in their Champions League groups,
will also enter the UEFA Cup, at the third round stage.
