Goals galore but dour Steaua struggle in UEFA Cup ( 2003-08-29 10:03) (Agencies)
A host of teams posted big wins in the UEFA Cup qualifying round on
Thursday but one player did all the work on his own.
Teenage striker Eldar Hadzihmemedovic scored all six goals as Norway's Lyn
crushed Runavik of the Faroe Islands 6-0 in the second leg of their tie for a
9-1 aggregate victory.
Esbjerg of Denmark were also 9-1 overall winners against Santa Coloma of
Andorra while Torpedo Moscow did even better, beating Domagnano of San Marino
4-0 away for a 9-0 aggregate.
The night's biggest aggregate score was the 12-2 Celje of Slovenia managed
against Macedonian side Belasica as they won the away leg 5-0 on Thursday.
Former European champions Red Star Belgrade also finished with a big
aggregate victory, 8-2 against Nistru Otaci of Moldova, after winning 3-2 in the
away leg.
Steaua Bucharest, who preceded Red Star as the first European Cup winners
from the eastern bloc in 1986, by contrast scraped in on the away goals rule.
They were held 0-0 at home by Neman Grodno of Belarus in a poor,
mistake-riddled match after drawing 1-1 away in the first leg.
All the qualifying round winners go into Friday's UEFA Cup draw with 16
disappointed losers from the Champions League third qualifying round, including
former European champions Benfica and Borussia Dortmund and the three Intertoto
Cup qualifiers, Perugia, Schalke 04 and Villarreal.
RC Lens, who like Dortmund played Champions League football last season
beating AC Milan and Deportivo Coruna at home and getting two draws against
Bayern Munich, cruised past Torpedo Kutaisi of Georgia 2-0 for a 5-0 aggregate
win.
England's Manchester City, 5-0 winners at home to Welsh side TNS
Llansantffraid in the first leg, completed a 7-0 aggregate win away with a side
full of reserves
