ergić breaks swedish hearts for basel published: wednesday 6 august 2008, 23.47cet fc basel 1893 4-2 ifk göteborg (agg: 5-3) the swiss champions twice fell behind before ivan ergić struck twice late on to complete a dramatic win.
by daniel aenishänslin
fc basel 1893 recaptured something of the spirit of their thrilling 2002/03 uefa champions league run as they twice came from behind to eliminate ifk göteborg.
late turnaround basel seemed to have the edge in the tie after last week's 1-1 draw in sweden but pontus wernblom put göteborg ahead on 19 minutes and although benjamin huggel soon equalised, robin söder's goal early in the second half left the home side needing to score twice. scott chipperfield gave them hope and ivan ergić found the target on 84 and 90 minutes to ensure it will be basel taking on vitória sc of portugal for a place in the group stage.
göteborg ahead göteborg were fastest out of the blocks and having come close within a few seconds soon had the goal they needed to remain in the tie when wernblom finished off a fast counterattack. that kicked basel into life and the man that put them ahead last week in gothenburg, huggel, did the trick again as he headed in jürgen gjasula's corner. valentin stocker, the one player added to basel's starting lineup compared to the first leg, nearly made it 2-1, but goalkeeper kim christensen was equal to his effort.
basel recover although basel maintained the pressure after the interval, it was göteborg that scored next and again it was from a swift break, finished off by söder after franco costanzo could only parry. basel now required a pair of strikes to overturn göteborg's away-goals edge, but they had the first of them with 19 minutes left when chipperfield stretched to connect with an eren derdiyok ball.
ergić intervention the st. jakob-park crowd sensed basel had a chance and when they were awarded a penalty with six minutes left for a handball, ergić made no mistake. in added time, he rounded two göteborg defenders to settle matters, bringing back memories of the 2002/03 campaign when basel beat celtic fc, liverpool fc and juventus in making it to the second group stage.
