substitute ıgor de camargo struck twice after luciano bebê's dismissal as the german side advanced to confirm ael's elimination.
substitute ıgor de camargo struck twice in the last 11 minutes as vfl borussia mönchengladbach booked their place in the uefa europa league knockout stages.
when de camargo trotted on with 16 minutes remaining a scrappy group c encounter hung in the balance but that soon changed. first ael limassol fc were reduced to ten men when luciano bebê, guilty of a glaring early miss, brought down patrick herrmann and received his marching orders. juan arango clipped the upright from the resulting free-kick before de camargo took centre stage, latching onto håvard nordtveit's through ball and firing low inside the far post. his added-time header made sure.
ael had begun the game knowing only a win would do and they nearly enjoyed a dream start. from the kick-off bebê advanced straight up the middle, exchanging passes with orlando sá and sprang a disjointed offside trap but, with only the keeper to beat, he badly miscontrolled the return. his anguished appearance was as edifying as the relief etched on every member of the home defence.
ıt set the tone for an open first half, littered by mistakes, lax passing and a failure to capitalise on either. mike hanke and the excellent alexander ring provided obvious quality down mönchengladbach's right, but it was the visitors who looked most threatening. their best moments came from errors by home keeper marc-andré ter stegen, most notably when he came and failed to meet a cross just before the half-hour mark – orlando sá could not get over the ball.
at the other end matias degra dealt with ring's well-struck volley with more credit, his save more a testament to good positioning than reflexes. the home side picked up where they left off after the restart, with arango increasingly influential as herrmann twice wasted openings; de camargo did not need any second invitations.
