By AVI CREDITOR
Sacha Kljestan's UEFA Champions League dream is over before it could even get started.
Kljestan's RSC Anderlecht fell in its Champions League qualifier to Partizan Belgrade in penalties (3-2) Tuesday after dramatically scoring twice midway in the second half to send the tie to extra time.
Romelu Lukaku and Guillaume Gillet scored in the 64th and 72nd minutes, respectively, to offset a brace from Cleo that had given the visitors a 4-2 aggregate lead. The 4-4 scoreline carried through extra time and into penalties, where Anderlecht skied three of its penalty kicks over the bar (with Mbark Boussoufa, pictured above, missing the final one) to miss out on qualifying for the Champions League group stage.
Kljestan, who scored in league play over the weekend, didn't dress for either leg of the qualifying tie.
In the second legs of Tuesday's other Champions League group stage qualifiers:
- Werder Bremen blew its 3-1, first-leg advantage after yielding three consecutive goals but rallied against Sampdoria to advance to the group stage, 5-4 on aggregate. Markus Rosenberg's injury-time equalizer carried the match into extra time, and Claudio Pizarro tallied in the 100th minute to seal Bremen's victory.
- Rodrigo Lima notched a hat trick to lift Sporting Braga to a 5-3 aggregate victory over Sevilla.
- Eran Zahavi's injury-time equalizer carried Hapoel Tel Aviv to a 1-1 draw with FC Salzburg and dramatic a 4-3 aggregate win.
- Alexander Frei scored twice to cap FC Basel's 3-0 win (4-0 aggregate) over Sheriff Tiraspol.
Also happening around the world of soccer:
DEFOE NEEDS GROIN SURGERY
Tottenham could be in the market for a new striker before the transfer window closes with the word that Jermain Defoe will be having groin surgery that could sideline him for a month.
Defoe is still able to play limited minutes and could be available for Tottenham's Champions League match on Wednesday, but he will have the operation next week and will miss out on England's Euro 2012 qualifiers in September.
MACDONALD GIVEN TWO MATCHES
Aston Villa interim manager Kevin MacDonald has been given two matches to prove himself as the top candidate for the full-time position.
The matches, a UEFA Europa League second-leg qualifier against Rapid Vienna and a Premier League tilt with Everton, will seemingly determine whether Villa's ownership will look for a different replacement for the departed Martin O'Neill.
AQUILANI LOANED TO JUVENTUS
Catastrophic Liverpool signing Alberto Aquilani has been loaned to Juventus for the remainder of the season with the option for the Serie A club to buy him outright at the end of the 2010-2011 campaign.
An Italian international, Aquilani joined the Reds from Roma last summer for £20 million but failed to make a solid impression at Anfield. He appeared 26 times last season and scored two goals while struggling to fortify his place on the pitch on a consistent basis.
Should Juventus want to buy Aquilani at the end of the season, it would cost £13 million.
LIVERPOOL SHORTHANDED FOR SECOND LEG
Liverpool will be without Fernando Torres, Steven Gerrard, Daniel Agger and Maxi Rodriguez while it tries to fend off Turkish side Trabzonspor in the second leg of its UEFA Europa League qualifying tie.
The Reds earned a 1-0 victory at Anfield in the first leg, but they will be severely shorthanded on the road. Javier Mascherano, rumored to be transferring to Barcelona, is also not included in Roy Hodgson's squad for Thursday's match.
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What did you think of Tuesday's Champions League drama? Think England will be OK in Euro 2012 qualifying without Defoe? Do you think that MacDonald should remain Villa's manager? Do you expect Aquilani to find his top form with Juventus? Think Trabzonspor can pull the upset?
Share your thoughts below.
The pitch made it a total crapshoot. The Partizan guys got lucky more than anything.
The Anderlecht keeper was not that good though. He was just jumping way off his line. The Partizan shooters had no angle.
The pitch really was horrendous. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. The shootout was a total crapshoot.
But I was OK with the outcome because the Anderlecht keeper was blatantly coming WAY off his line.
Terrible.
And he still managed to score today.
F Liverpool and their degenerate fan base of American flag burners
You’d run into a million arguments around this and none of them would hold water. I’ve played all my life, taken them exactly as you’ve described and never missed one….. ever. If the ref enforces the rule (keeper not moving)’ it is impossible to stop. Period.
Perhaps they should have started sacha………
I’ve played and coached soccer for many years, and the evolution through the years of the way I see penalty kicks being taken is troubling to say the least. I see WAY too many young players attempt to hit it high, or into the side net. It’s ridiculous. The golden rule of PK’s: Hard and low to the corners. If players practice them that way, they may occasionally miss, but not very frequently, I would even say almost NEVER. PK’s should be automatic…
What about Gooch? He should get some time with Milan
I guess we can blame Chivas USA for Anderlecht’s poor penalty kicks, too.
The British announcers kept saying that the pitch cost Anderlecht a cool 15 million euros.
The Partizan guys tried to play it simple and adjust and they were stuffed, twice.
The pitch is definitely to blame.
Anderlecht in penalties might have been the worst display of penalty kicks I’ve ever seen by a club at that level. Their keeper was very good in penalties, and they still lost because they Baggio’d it repeatedly. Simply terrible. The article blames the pitch but I didn’t see Partizan’s guys blowing it a mile over the crossbar…
That was just wrong.
Haha, nice.
yeah, i think they get sent in to europa league group stages automatically now.
The 10 losers of the Champions League qualification round 4 will directly enter the UEFA Europa League group stage
Does Anderlecht get a shot at Europa league qualifying now, or am I wrong about that?
Groin surgery? Looks like Defoe won’t be scoring for a while….
Anyone?
No?
Okay, I’ll leave.
Sucks for Sacha. If Anderlecht would have made it through, would it have been the most Americans we’ve had in the Champions League group stage in a season (3- J. Jones, M. Edu, S. Kjlestian)?
Ditto. :(. Why is Liverpool falling it is very sad I love Liverpool they are a great team with wonderful history.
The Liverpool ship is sinking faster and faster.
And that penalty spot debacle in the Anderlecht match was pretty embarrassing.
Salcido to Fulham. Interesting.