Vucko helps Split advance in UEFA Cup
Red Star, Rangers among others who advance
Posted: Wednesday August 26, 1998 10:06 AM
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Vejle's forwarder Peter Graulund (left) battles for the ball with midfielder Arcanu Dorin of Otelul Galati AP |
LONDON (AP) -- Juricka Vucko saved the day for Hajduk Split as the Croats overpowered Malmo 2-1 in Sweden Tuesday to advance to the first round of the UEFA Cup with a 3-2 aggregate.
Split, held to a surprising 1-1 draw in the first leg of the second-round qualifier, took the lead in the 41st minute and doubled the advantage in the 55th minute when Vucko slammed in his second goal.
Malmo scored a consolation goal in stoppage time to reduce the winning margin to 2-1.
"It was wonderful feeling to score twice. It has been rough going in the league play but now I may have recovered my form," Vucko said after the game.
Red Star of Belgrade came from behind to beat Russia's Rotor Volgograd 2-1 in the return match at Volgogradand advance on a 4-2 aggregate.
Red Star dominated in the first half but Rotor's goalkeeper Andrei Chichkin made several dramatic saves to keep the visitors scoreless.
The Yugoslavs maintained the ascendency despite playing with one man down for almost 40 minutes after Jovan Gojkovic was red-carded for an illegal tackle.
Rotor scored first, through stiker Alexander Zernov in the 59th minute, but Red Star hit back with goals in the 70th and 80th minutes to seal the result.
Rapid Vienna beat Omonia 2-0 and relied on the away goal rule to advance to the UEFA Cup. Vienna lost 3-1 in the first leg of the qualifier in Cyprus and scraped through by keeping Omonia scoreless at home.
Rene Wagner, Rapid's sole scorer at Nikosia two weeks ago, scored the clincher in the 70th minute after swooping on a rebound off the post.
Anderlecht also qualified on away goals after a 2-0 win over Osijek of Zagreb. Anderlecht lost 3-1 in Zagreb in the first leg but held the Croats scoreless Tuesday to advance despite a 3-3 aggregate.
Anderlecht scored the decisive goal in 85th minute.
Inter Bratislava dominated former Czechoslovakia league rivals Slavia Prague 2-0 in their return match but still failed to qualify.
Inter scored two second-half goals but couldn't peg back the 4-0 advantage Slavia held after the first-leg match in Prague.
Two second-leg matches were played in Turkey, with Trabzonspor bowing out after a 2-1 loss to Poland's Wisla Krakow and Fenerbahce beating Sweden's IFK Goteborg 1-0 in Istanbul.
Wisla had a 5-1 advantage going into the match and stamped out any threat of losing by scoring the first goal through Nigerian midfielder Ibrahim Sunday in the 54th minute.
Wisla added another goal in the 64th minute before Trabzonspor midfielder Huseyin Cimsiv scored for the home side with a header in the 68th minute.
Fenerbahce advanced on the away-goal rule after a 2-2 aggregate against Goteborg.
In front of a fiercely partisan crowd it took Fenerbahce 63 minutes to overturn the 2-1 deficit against the Swedes, Elvir Balic wrong-footing the Goteborg defense in a solo effort to edge the visitors out.
Two Scottish teams were involved in qualifiers Tuesday.
Glasgow Rangers advanced with a 2-0 aggregate after a scoreless draw against PAOK Salonica in Greece, while Kilmarnock lost to Sigma Olomouc at home to exit the competition.
Rangers, which scored a 2-0 first-leg win at Ibrox two weeks ago, succeeded where English Premier League titlist Arsenal failed last year.
Cheered on by 32,000 supporters, PAOK pressed hard from the start but found it difficult to get through a well-organized Rangers defense.
Copyright 2003 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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