rapid leave it late published: tuesday 17 september 2002, 22.00cet sbv vitesse 1-1 fc rapid bucuresti late leveller for rapid bucuresti against vitesse.
sbv vitesse 1-1 fc rapid bucuresti fc rapid bucuresti struck a late equaliser to deny home side sbv vitesse victory in their uefa cup first round first-leg match played under the roof of the gelredome stadium.
late leveller the romanian side, who had dominated the game, appeared to be taking a 1-0 deficit back to bucharest until adrian iensci rose above the defence to head ioan soava's free-kick past goalkeeper dragoslav jevric deep into injury time. rapid would have been on level terms much earlier had it not been for the impressive jevric. they completely dominated the first half, but failed to convert their chances.
peeters pounces vitesse improved somewhat after the break and struck against the run of play after 53 minutes. substitute mathew amoah was the provider with his cross picking out bob peeters, who headed home for the opening goal. however, the ghanaian turned from hero to villain three minutes later when he was put straight through but he fired over when well placed. rapid finally got the goal they deserved two minutes into injury time when soava’s free kick from the far right was met by iensci at the far post.
rednic relief that goal produced a reaction of relief for rapid coach mircea rednic after the match. he said: “i saw a good game with two good teams and both teams had their chances. i was satisfied with the result because we deserved the equaliser. i think we might even have won because we had so many chances.”
vitesse regret vitesse coach mike snoei was understandably disappointed with the late leveller. “the equaliser was the result of the inexperience of young team. an experienced team would never give away a free-kick like that in injury time,“ he said. “it will be difficult in bucharest in the return but i see chances for my team – we’ll create a lot and i think that we will take one.”
