Sparta beats FC Porto 2-0

PRAGUE, Czech Republic (AP) -- Second-half goals by Libor Sionko and Jiri Jarosik lead Sparta Prague to a 2-0 victory over FC Porto in a Group C Champions League game on Wednesday.

Sparta finished third in the group with six points with Porto last with four.

The group's other teams, Real Madrid and Panathinaikos, advanced to the quarterfinals. Madrid, unbeaten in the second phase, topped the table with 16 points while the Greek club was second on eight points.

Despite several decent chances created by both teams, the first half of the match didn't see a goal.

Porto had an early opportunity in the eighth minute when striker Helder Postiga beat Sparta defender Zdenek Grygera and then chipped goalkeeper Petr Cech, but the ball went just wide.

Sparta replied for the first time in the 26th minute with Sionko firing from 25 meters (yards), but goalkeeper Paulo Santos was in the right place to save.

A minute later, Sparta midfielder Jarosik broke to the area but strikers Marek Kincl and Sionko failed to get a leg on his cross from the left.

Porto midfielder Deco failed to capitalize on a blunder by Sparta's defense in the 33rd minute when his attempt from the edge of the penalty area was blocked by Cech.

In the 42nd minute, Tomas Cizek supplied a perfect pass to Lukas Hartig, but the striker failed to beat Santos.

The best scoring chance for Porto came in the 44th minute. Clayton Cruz's corner kick found Jarosik, who badly misjudged his clearing header that shook the near post of his team's goal.

In the 63rd minute, Sparta managed to break a scoreless draw with speedy Sionko, who outraced an opponent to put his shot from the edge of the area to the lower right corner of the net.

Jarosik confirmed Sparta's second win in the second phase of the Champions Cup on a perfectly executed free kick from 25 meters (yards) eight minutes later.

The match was watched by a crowd of 10,521 spectators.

"I told my players it could be changed in a minute, but they could not score, they didn't finish well," said Porto coach Jose dos Santos Mourinho.

"We wanted to end the [Champions] League in a positive way. We lost some close games during this phase and you don't want to lose the last one at home as well," said Sparta midfielder Tomas Huebshmann.

Summary

Sparta Prague 2 Porto 0 - result

Champions League second stage, group C

Scorers: Libor Sionko 63, Jiri Jarosik 71

Halftime: 0-0; Attendance: 10,521

Teams:

Sparta Prague: 17-Petr Cech; 5-Jan Flachbart, 2-Zdenek Grygera, 8-Jiri Novotny, 31-Pavel Mares; 14-Libor Sionko (13-Martin Klein, 90), 16-Tomas Huebschman, 20-Jiri Jarosik, 22-Tomas Cizek; 9-Marek Kincl (28-Pavel Zavadil, 46), 12-Lukas Hartig (25-Peter Babnic, 79).

Porto: 24-Paulo Santos; 5-Carlos Paredes, 17-Hugo Ibarra, 30-Mario Silva, 13-Jorge Andrade, 33-Ricardo Silva; 6-Francisco Costinha (19-Gustavo Dias Rafael, 66), 41-Helder Postiga (31-Renivaldo Pena, 46), 10-Deco Sousa (14-Frederik Soederstroem, 73); 21-Nuno Capucho, 28-Clayton Cruz.

Referee: Wolfgang Stark (Germany)

 

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Reuters contributed to this report.