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UEFA Cup, Round of 16, Second Leg
Hamburger SV 3 - 2 Bayer Leverkusen

Leverkusen are through, thanks to the away goal rule.

18' [0 - 1] S. Barbarez
53' [1 - 1] P. Trochowski
55' [1 - 2] T. Gekas
64' [2 - 2] J.P. Guerrero
80' [3 - 2] R.v.d. Vaart

Hamburg 3-2 Bayer Leverkusen

(3-3 on aggregate; Bayer win on away goals)

Bayer Leverkusen are through to the quarter final of the Uefa Cup on away goals despite a 3-2 defeat at the hands of Hamburg at the HSH Nordbank Arena.

A 3-2 home win proved insufficient for HSV as two away goals from Bayer Leverkusen saw them through on the away goals rule.

Former Hamburg favourite Sergej Barbarez gave the visitors the lead on 18 minutes, only for substitute Piotr Trochowski to equalise early in the second half. Two minutes later Theofanis Gekas scored the all-important second away goal for the visitors.

Paulo Guerrero and Rafael van der Vaart scored two further goals for the home side, but were unable to grab the fourth they needed to go through.

Huub Stevens was faced with a number of selection problems ahead of this Uefa Cup clash with four enforced changes. In came Brecko, Atouba, Demel and Odjidja Ofoe.

Michael Skibbe made two changes to the team, which beat Hannover 2-0 on Sunday. Sarpei and Barbarez returned to the side following injury and suspension respectively. Gresko and Schneider made way.

First Half

Two minutes in and Bayer took advantage of some sloppy play in midfield from Demel and counter-attacked quickly. A one-two between Barbarez and Gekas saw the ball find its way to Kießling, whose shot flew over the bar.

Two minutes later and Hamburg were on the offensive. Guerrero fed Olic with a superb through ball, but Rene Adler was on his toes and rushed out to clear the danger from on the edge of the six-yard box.

In a very open game, the next chance fell to the visitors with Gekas being denied by Frank Rost. The opening ten minutes inside the HSH Nordbank Arena were certainly very entertaining.

The home side beat the Leverkusen back line again on nine minutes with Demel playing a forward pass. Paulo Guerrero found himself completely free in front of Adler, but the young Bayer keeper got a good hand to the Peruvian’s shot. Ivica Olic was unable to reach the rebound as the danger passed.

The chances kept coming and it was the hosts again that wasted a great chance. Atouba’s long throw found van der Vaart, who found himself clean in on goal. His shot however rolled just beyond the right-hand post.

It seemed just a matter of time before one side scored and that goal came on 18 minutes with Leverkusen grabbing an all-important away goal. Barnetta was brought down on the edge of the area by Olic. The Swiss international whipped the ball into the six-yard box from the set-piece and Barbarez was on hand to apply the finish with his left foot to leave Frank Rost helpless to stop it.

It took Hamburg at least ten minutes to recover from the goal, which had left them needing three goals to rescue the tie. Bayer Leverkusen looked to have the game fully in control.

On the half hour mark, Guerrero was very lucky that the referee didn’t spot a deliberate elbow on Vidal, otherwise a red card would surely have been produced.

Before the half time whistle, Hamburg forced Rene Adler into two goal-saving saves. Firstly a mis-hit cross from Olic looked goal bound, before the Bayer keeper palmed the effort over the bar. Then van der Vaart got on the end of an Atouba cross and diverted the ball towards the back of the net with a left-foot flick. Adler produced a superb reaction save to deny the HSV captain.

Second Half

Huub Stevens sent on Piotr Trochowski at the start of the second half and only had three minutes to wait before the first chance. Jarolim laid the ball back to Olic inside the penalty area, but again the Croatian was unable to make a decent connection and the ball bobbled past the post.

Substitute Trochowski then made an immediate impact with the equaliser for Hamburg on 53 minutes to bring renewed hope for the home side. Leverkusen were unable to properly clear a long throw from Atouba and Jarolim finally laid the ball off to the newcomer. His precise left-foot shot flew through a crowd of players and past Adler in the Bayer goal to give the home side something to chase.

However, the delight for the home fans lasted just two minutes when Theofanis Gekas grabbed the second of the night for Leverkusen to put them firmly in control of the tie.

A long ball forward from Sarpei saw Gekas through on goal, albeit from a marginally offside position. The Greek striker kept his cool to slot past Frank Rost into the bottom far right-hand corner.

HSV refused to lie down and give up hope and were rewarded on 64 minutes with a goal from Paulo Guerrero. Demel powered down the right hand side before crossing to the middle. Guerrero flicked the ball up and fired a brilliant shot past Rene Adler to make it 2-2 on the night and give the Hanseaten a glimmer of hope.

Huub Stevens’ side continued to press looking for the two goals they needed. A mis-hit shot from Brecko brought Guerrero into play but his shot went just over the bar.

Then on 72 minutes van der Vaart controlled the ball well inside the penalty area, before rounding Rene Adler. Forced wide, the HSV captain could only direct his shot into the side netting.

With ten minutes left on the clock, van der Vaart did get on the score sheet. Guerrero beat Rolfes on the edge of the penalty area and played a square ball to the Dutchman to poke home from close-range and set up a frantic last ten minutes with the home side needing one more goal to go through.

With four minutes left on the clock, David Jarolim tried to buy a penalty, but referee Mallenco wasn’t fooled and the Bayer defenders were far from impressed with the Czech’s antics.

Four minutes of time added on proved insufficient for Hamburg to get the one goal they required and Leverkusen progressed to the quarter-final courtesy of their two away goals.

Hamburg: Rost, Brecko, Reinhardt, Mathijsen, Atouba (Boateng 62), Demel, Odjidja-Ofoe (Trochowski 46), Jarolim, van der Vaart, Guerrero, Olic (Sam 76)

Bayer Leverkusen: Adler, Castro, Friedrich, Haggui, Sarpei, Vidal (Bulykin 88), Rolfes, Barbarez (Schwegler 72), Barnetta, Kießling, Gekas (Callsen-Bracker 81)

Goal.com - UEFA Cup - Leverkusen Through On Away Goals After Hamburg Thriller