betis do just enough published: friday 4 october 2002, 0.01cet real betis balompié 2-1 fc zimbru chisinau (agg: 4-1) spanish side secure their place.
the anticipated one-sided contest never happened when real betis balompié, conquerors of fc barcelona at the weekend, met the moldovan side, fc zimbru chisinau. the seville team did just enough to win 2-1 tonight for a 4-1 aggregate victory.
flying high betis, currently flying high in the primera división, struggled to match the fluency and attacking potency they showed against barça but were never in danger at the manuel ruiz de lopera stadium.
neat dummy betis cruised into a 2-0 lead within 30 minutes, the score they achieved in the first leg. uruguayan defender washington tais scored the first after 23 minutes following a neat dummy from gaston angel casas. casas himself scored the second after a wonderful cross from fernando.
penalty award plucky zimbru never gave up hope although they did rely on a penalty award to get them back into the match. boris cebotari made no mistake from the spot, however, and just three minutes after betis' second goal the visitors had at least gained some reward for their efforts.
too much class betis possessed too much class for any more upsets. nevertheless, zimbru more than held their own in the second period, although there was no doubt that the hosts were more than content just to play out time rather than go chasing more goals.
great save betis goalkeeper ronny gaspercic pulled off a great late save to deny marin dinu but despite the best efforts of the outstanding levan gvazava, zimbru could not net another consolation.
