UEFA Cup Final: CSKA Moscow 3, Sporting Clube Lisbon 1


CSKA goes Lisbon and defeats the home side, earning the first UEFA Cup win ever for a Russian side.

From the outset, Sporting are in control. They are playing at home, by a stroke of luck, since the finals site is chosen before the tournament begins. They show nice touches in midfield and good movement of the ball. If the Muscovites can't regain the fluidity they have shown in earlier games, they will struggle here. Starting in about the 15th minute, however, CSKA begin to come forward more. In the 24th minute, the CSKA goalie, Akinfeyev comes out hard and knocks Sa Pinto out of one of his boots, but it's a fair intervention. In the 26th, a CSKA defensive header almost goes in their net. In the 29th, after a nice move up the right by Garcia, his cross takes deflections and lands for Rogerio, who turns and fires expertly for the goal. Akinfev is rooted to the spot. The home crowd go mad. Sporting are doing a good job so far of keeping CSKA from trading on their speed and size. But CSKA are learning how to handle the Sporting offsides trap. In the 44th, Olic crosses to a wide open Vagner Love, who mis-hits it, sending the ball just wide.
In the 51st, Akinfeyev picks up an obvious back-pass, giving Sporting an indirect kick inside the box. Rochenback's shot is deflected for a corner. In the 54th, though, Love sneaks through the defense and his volley just misses. In the 57th, CSKA take advantage of a right side free kick to score the equalizer. One of the brothers Berezutsky heads down and in off a Carvalho free kick, and it's tied at 1. Both sides are playing well now, Sporting doing best in midfield, and CSKA making their biggest impression in Sporting's half. In the 66th, after showing their ability to penetrate deeply into Sporting territory, a perfect Carvalho pass splits two defenders and Zhirkov slots in to make it 2-1. In less than 10 minutes, CSKA have taken control of the game. They threaten again in the 73rd, but one minute later, a Tello free kick is headed out, a long-range shot is saved, and Tello runs onto the rebound from close range. His shot is deflected by Rogelio onto the post and then smothered by Akinfeyev. An incredible lost opportunity for Sporting. But a minute later, the counter-attack finds Sporting caught upfield. Ricardo misses the cross (from Carvalho of course) to the wide-open Love, who calmly controls the ball and fires into the empty net. The game is out of reach, and CSKA have just provided a textbook example of how to win a big game on the road. Sporting battle bravely in the final 15 minutes, but have to deal with CSKA coming forward still. It's great to see a team refusing to sit back in the box and defend. Tello misses with a long-range shot in the 85th, and Sporting can do nothing more. The Sporting fans are in tears as time runs out. It is the first piece of European silverware for a Russian team since Dinamo Moscow won the old European Cup-Winners Cup in 1972. CSKA have entered the history books with a great performance and provided a wonderful game in the process.

Posted: Thu - May 19, 2005 at 09:53 AM          

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