Sarajevo comeback stuns Besiktas

Besiktas JK 2-2 FK Sarajevo
Bosnia-Herzegovnian Cup winners FK Sarajevo came from two goals down to stun Turkish side Besiktas JK in their UEFA Cup first round first-leg tie.

Away goals
The Turkish giants looked to have the tie under control as they scored twice around the half-hour mark, but Sarajevo set up an intriguing second-leg clash at the Olimpijski stadium as they wiped out the deficit in the second half with two potentially priceless away goals.

Besiktas in command
Romanian striker Daniel Pancu fired the home side into the lead after 30 minutes with a fine shot that went in off the post. The Turkish side doubled their advantage just two minutes later when international striker Ahmet Dursun pounced for the second from a Sergen Yalçin cross.

Sarajevo fightback
Sarajevo threw themselves a lifeline after 62 minutes when Emir Obuca struck to grab a goal back. He took a pass from Albin Pelak inside the box and slotted the ball home to Oscar Córdoba’s left. Then with 12 minutes remaining, Sarajevo pulled level with substitute Adnan Osmanhodzic on target.

Musemic confident
Not surprisingly, Sarajevo coach Husrud Musemic was in good spirits after the match. He said: “We could not have guessed that score. We proved that we know how to play football but we started cautiously and only in the second half have we played better football. I watched Besiktas on video and could see that their three-man defensive line has some problems. I knew that we would score. We have a promising score now, but Besiktas is a strong team. With our supporters in Sarajevo we have a chance to advance into the second round.”

'Bad football'
Meanwhile, Mircea Lucescu, the Besiktas coach, adopted a philosophical tone. He said: “There were two different games in our match I think. If we had played more carefully we could even have scored six goals. I believe that because of tiredness our players played bad football. We wasted a lot of chances especially on the finishing touches.“

Still hopeful
He added: “The most crucial thing was to concede two goals at home. That will effect our tactics in the second leg. This was an important match for us but we made quite a lot mistakes. If we play like we played in the first half I believe we will be the side to advance into the second round. There is a positive side of this game I believe - we have played the best football of all of the matches we played this season. Sarajevo are not as strong a team as Besiktas but we should never underestimate them.”