PHOTO: shakhtar.com, Darjio Srna
Shakhtar Donetsk and Club Brugge battled to a 0-0 draw from the RSK Olympyiskyi Stadium in Group J action. With the point earned today, Shakhtar locked up the top spot in their group, ensuring a place in the knockout stage of the competition. Darijo Srna played the entire match for his Ukranian side, receiving a yellow card in the 67′, while Ivan Perišić started for his side but was subbed out of the contest in the 69′ for teammate Vadis Odjija Ofoe.
PHOTO: shakhtar.com, Ivan Perišić
Shakhtar had the upper hand in the first half, but Club Brugge, in need of a win to see off the threat of Toulouse came back with a vengeance in the second half with multiple efforts on goal. With the point earned today for Club Brugge, it left them needing a draw from their final match at home to Toulouse FC later this month to move on to the knockout stage at the expense of the French side. Shakhtar are away at FK Partizan for a meaningless final group match.
Ante Rukavina
Ante Rukavina played the entire match for Panathinaikos in a 1-0 loss to Turkish giants Galatasaray from the Ali Sami Yen Stadium with 14,000 in attendance. A deflected goal in the 50′ was enough for Galatasaray to earn the win over Panathinaikos to seal first place in Group F in the Europa League with one game to spare. Rukavina nearly scored for his Greek side when he ran onto a high ball and headed it past an approaching Leo Franco, but failed to direct his effort on target.
Panathinaikos still need a point in their final game against Dinamo Bucharest to book a place in the knockout stage.
Referee Ivan Bebek
The officiating crew for the Galatasaray-Panathinakos contest was headed by Croatian referee Ivan Bebek, who has also been preselected as a referee for the 2010 FIFA World Cup.
Hamburg SV defeated Rapid Vienna by a final score of 2-0 in group in Group C Europa League action from HSH Nordbank Arena with 45,737 in attendance. Nikica Jelavić played the entire match for his Austrian side (which obtained 7 yellow cards over the course of the match) but did not have the goal scoring touch he is so used to possessing in European competition this season. Two quick goals on a sleeping Rapid Vienna defense at the beginning of the second half assures that the Austrian side will not be advancing to the next stage of the competition with one group match left to play at home to Celtic on December 17.
PHOTO: hsv.de, Nikica Jelavić
Mladen Petrić finally made his return to the Hamburg lineup after sustaining an ankle injury October 4th, entering the contest in the 75′ for Marcus Berg. Although Petrić had little time to make an impact in the already-decided game, these substitutions are meant to slowly bring him back into playing fitness. Look for Petrić to play a major role in the rest of Hamburg’s quest to not only win the Bundesliga, but reach the Europa League Final, which they will host this year at their HSH Nordbank Arena.
PHOTO: reuters, Mladen Petrić made his return to action
Hamburg SV sit atop of Group C with 10 points, one point in front of Hapoel Tel-Aviv FC, who they will face on December 17 as visitors in a pivotal final group match.
PHOTO: uefa.com, Nikola Pokrivač (3rd from left) celebrating with teammates
Red Bull Salzburg earned their fifth consecutive Group G win and moved onto the knockout stages of the Europa Cup as group winners with a hard fought 2-1 victory over S.S. Lazio from Stadion Salzburg. Nikola Pokrivač started the match for his squad and played until he was subbed out in the 87′ for teammate Simon Cziommer. Goal.com gave Nikola a rating of 6.5, stating “[Pokrivač] didn’t have the best of game and also earned a yellow card in the match (71′). But he was an important player for the hosts as he helped in connecting the midfield with the attack. Red Bull Salzburg travel to Spain for a December 17 final group stage match against 2nd place Villarreal CF.
PHOTO: tanpress, Ivan Jurić
Genoa played to a 0-0 against Czech side Slavia Prague from the Evzena Rosickeho Stadium with a small crowd of 9,443 fans in attendance. Ivan Jurić entered the contest for Genoa as a substitute in the 52′ for Domenico Criscito but failed to break the stalemate.
With the 1 point earned from the draw, Genoa are now tied in points with French side LOSC Lille Métropole heading into the final matchday. In their first meeting, Genoa were defeated by Lille 3-0 as visitors, but were victorious 3-2 at home. Genoa will host group leaders Valencia in matchday 6 while Lille host Slavia Prague.
Gordon Schildenfeld
Dinamo Bucharest defeated guests SK Sturm Graz 2-1 from Dinamo Stadium with a mere 2,000 on hand to wittness the game. Gordan Schildenfeld of SK Sturm Graz played the entire contest for his team and received a yellow card in the 8′. SK Sturm Graz have only one point as they sit at the bottom of Group F with Dinamo Bucharest sitting in third place with six points. The Austrian side must play one more meaningless match against group leaders Galatasaray on December 16 to end their run at European success this season.
~Ivica Peroš reporting from Long Island, New York
You can vote for Darijo Srna on UEFA oficial sie:
http://www1.uefa.com/fanzone/TeamOfTheYear/index.html
Excellent work Ivica!
Great to see Petrić back. I was also surprised to see Bebek on this post. Good call!
Solid post Ivica. Looks like Jelavic (and his team) ran out of gas. I'd like to see Club Brugge extend their European season to see what else Perisic can do. Good to see Petric back.
Funny that you included Bebek. He only got to be a 4th official at Euro 2008. Maybe he'll get a real shot next summer.