Thursday, November 27, 2008

CSKA Moscow triumphs over hearty Lech Poznań

CSKA Moscow advances to the next round on the UEFA Cup with a hard-fought 2-1 victory over visiting Polish giant Lech Poznań. The Polish side showed tremendous resolve in fighting back after falling 2-0 but could not overcome Valery Gazzaev's CSKA, which is looking more and more like a team of destiny.

In their final match of the year in-front of their faithful supporters at Luzhniki, CSKA displayed a passion for the attack all-the-while holding strong to rock-solid defending. Just past the half-hour mark, teen sensation Alan Dzagoev opened the scoring off a perfect feed from Vágner Love. Russian international Yuri Zhirkov continued his stunning year as he volleyed in Anton Grigoryev's pass in added-time to double the margin. After the break Franciszek Smuda's side dug-in and fought back into the match with Bosnia and Herzegovina international Semir Štilić perfect free-kick past Igor Akinfeev six minutes past the hour mark to bring the match within one. The visitors continued to apply pressure but could not break through again and CSKA took the 2-1 victory.