Unirea Urziceni 1-0 Sevilla

An Ivica Dragutinovic own-goal was enough to give Unirea Urziceni a 1-0 win against a below-par Sevilla side, which strengthens the Romanians grip on second place in Champions League Group G.

Unirea sprang to life immediately from the kick-off. Attacking down the left, Sevilla's Spanish centre-back Sergio Sanchez was drawn into a cynical foul and, from the resulting free-kick, Unirea had the ball in the back of the net.
However, referee Tom Henning Ovrebo, remembered for his controversial display in last season's Champions League semi-final between Chelsea and Barcelona, again stoked up the heat by ruling the goal out for apparent offside.
Iulian Apostol had whipped the ball into the penalty area, and Javi Varas was only able to punch unconvincingly clear. The ball fell to Pablo Brandan who slotted home, before Ovrebo blew his whistle.
Nevertheless, that did not serve as a sign of things to come, as Dan Petrescu's men proceeded to sit back and invite Sevilla to attack for most of the first-half. And in two separate instances, that tactic almost served to undermine Unirea.
The first chance for the Spanish side came in the 8th minute and saw Abdoulay Konko whip in a ball from the right, which Frederic Kanoute connected with cleanly, but his shot smashed back off the post. Jesus Navas, who followed up, could only manage to blast wide from outside the box.
If Manolo Jimenez's men felt hard done by, they had another reason to curse their misfortune in the 20th minute. Kanoute's strike partner Alvaro Negredo sent a looping header back off the underside of the crossbar, following an incisive free-kick from Diego Capel, which Unirea keeper Giedrius Arlauskis failed to deal with.
Sevilla looked comfortable for the remainder of the first-half, maintaining possession and managing to keep Unirea pinned back in their own third.
Yet, on the stroke of half-time, the Spaniards were to find themselves going into the break behind.

And it was to be an inexplicable own-goal by Dragutinovic, clumsily heading past Varas.
The Serbian defender was put under relatively little pressure, following a long-ball into the box from Brandan, but that did not stop Dragutinovic swooping low and directing the ball past his hapless keeper.
Into the second-half, and Unirea grew further in confidence. Dacian Varga and Marius Bilasco were beginning to look more threatening, and Sevilla were struggling to cope with the long-balls that were beginning to bombard their box.
Just before the hour mark, Varas was called into a smart save after Varga connected well following a flick-on from Bilasco.
And, moments later, the pair were to collaborate again - this time Varga striking high into the side-netting, after Bilasco had received Brandan's long throw.
In response, Jimenez sent on Renato and Luis Fabiano but Sevilla continued to struggle to find their stride. Their final substitute, Diego Perotti, injected a bit of pace and vigour into proceedings, but Unirea continued to hold firm and deny the Spanish side any real, clear-cut openings.
Late on, nerves started to get the better of the home team - somehow Arlauskis proved to be a hero with a flying save to deny Konko from three yards out, while Luis Fabiano could only find the side-netting with a ferocious shot on the turn.
But it was to be Unirea's day, the Romanian side hanging onto a 1-0 victory which sees them move one step closer to an historic qualification to the knockout stage. Petrescu's men will require a draw in Stuttgart to progress - Sevilla, meanwhile, will look back on a performance which, though determined, proved to be lacking quality when it mattered.