UEFA Cup - Group F: Megson starts with draw

[Missing Post Count]

Eurosport - Thu, 25 Oct 22:50:00 2007

A late equaliser from Braga substitute Jailson meant Bolton had to settle for a drab 1-1 draw in their UEFA Cup Group F clash at the Reebok in front of watching new manager Gary Megson.

El Hadj Diouf had earlier come off the bench to give the home side the lead with a far post header, his first goal of 2007.

Although caretaker boss Archie Knox picked the side, Megson was on the bench for the first time after he was confirmed as manager earlier in the day.

And the former Leicester manager was quickly made fully aware of the size of the task in front of him as Bolton struggled woefully against the Portuguese outfit in front of just 10,848 fans.

Knox made four changes to the side that lost to Arsenal at the weekend, with France striker Nicolas Anelka returning to the team after recovering from a thigh injury with Gary Speed also recalled.

And Anelka had the best chances of a drab first half, although he was uncharateristically undecisive with both.

His sixth-minute free-kick curled straight at goalkeeper Paolo Santos from 20 yards was a tame effort from a very promising position.

Worse was to come though on 23 minutes when he pounced on a slip from a Braga defender 40 yards out, advanced 10 yards before lifting a weak chip straight at Santos, stranded on the edge of his penalty area.

Knox, realising that the home side were in desperate need of some inspiration, turned to Diouf just past the hour.

And it took the Senegal star a matter of minutes to make his mark, peeling away unmarked to the back post to plant Kevin Davies' fine cross past Santos.

Braga responded well and should have had an immediate chance to level when Jorginho was brought down in the penalty area by a poor sliding challenge from Andy O'Brien, although the referee turned down the penalty shouts.

Jussi Jaaskelainen was then forced to keep out César Peixoto's fierce drive from the edge of the area, a save made even more impressive considering the keeper appeared to be initially going the wrong way.

Davies came close to a second that would surely have sealing the win, but his right-foot shot thundered back off the crossbar.

And Jailson grabbed the goal that his side deserved when he arched his back to loop a fine header over Jaaskelainen with just four minutes remaining.

Red Star Belgrade 2-3 Bayern Munich

Bayern Munich teenager Toni Kroos came off the bench to rescue Bayern Munich in their opener against Red Star Belgrade.

The 17-year-old set up a late equaliser for Miroslav Klose before hitting a dramatic winner direct from an injury-time free-kick.

The hosts went ahead after 16 minutes through Ognjen Koroman, but the lead lasted only four minutes before Klose netted his first UEFA Cup goal for Bayern.

Nenad Milijas put Red Star ahead for the second time in the 74th minute and their advantage lasted a little longer this time before Klose again levelled matters five minutes from time from Kroos' cross.

And as the game entered stoppage time, substitute Kroos stole the headlines as he scored directly from a free-kick just seconds after Milan Bajalica was given his marching orders by Italian referee Matteo Trefoloni.

[Crazy-North]

I cant believe it Red Star was so close to beating bayern but with 5 minutes to go conceded 2 goals from two free kicks. Tactically Red Star played a very good game and didnt give bayern to much space. Really unfortunate i cant get over it.