göteborg crash out published: friday 30 august 2002, 0.35cet ifk göteborg 2-2 fc zimbru chisinau (agg: 3-5) ten-man zimbru pull off major shock.
ifk göteborg 2-2 fc zimbru chisinau (zimbru win 5-3 on aggregate) two goals in three minutes condemned ifk göteborg to a shock defeat by moldovan side fc zimbru chisinau - denying the former uefa cup winners a place in the competition
early lift for ifk trailing 3-1 from the first leg, göteborg needed a good start and got one when the visitors had sweeper ilie balasa sent off for elbowing magnus erlingmark after only eight minutes. suitably buoyed, the home side poured forward and were duly rewarded when tomas rosenkvist scored on the half-hour mark, applying a close-range finish to jonas henriksson's pass.
zimbru strike back however, instead of going on to level the tie, göteborg relaxed and were caught by breakaway goals on 34 and 36 minutes. erlingmark lost concentration and allowed boris cibotari to nick the ball off him and run unchallenged from the halfway line to score. then levan gvazava made it a double salvo, catching the home defence unawares to register via a post.
rosenkvist back on target rosenkvist got his second goal three minutes later, after more good work from man of the match henriksson, but this would be the last stirring of a former european super power rather than the start of a revival.
confidence drained göteborg could not build on a bright beginning to the second half as the team's poor league form told on the players' confidence in front of a sparse 2,109 crowd at the ullevi stadium. substitute robert karlsson and henriksson both missed chances.
boos for lundin with defeat looming for göteborg, winners of this competition in 1982 and 1987, their fans called for the resignation of coach stefan lundin. afterwards, he said: "it's not fun to hear it of course, and all we can do is try to get back to winning ways." göteborg are fourth from bottom of the allsvenskan with nine losses from 17 games.
'it's a shame' of the match itself, lundin said: "we played very well for the first 30 minutes, but then lost our concentration and chisinau scored two goals in quick succession. it's something we've seen far too often this season. it's a shame really. we do create the chances but we are having difficulties finding the net. let's not forget that chisinau are a good side who played two good games and i wish them luck."
zimbru's pride chisinau coach gabriel stan said: "i'm very proud of my boys. it was a tough game from the start and with only ten men on the pitch it was even tougher. it's good to play well in such an important game and as the game wore on ifk looked shattered."
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