published: thursday 17 september 2009, 23.50cet ac sparta praha 2-2 psv eindhoven
sparta led twice late on only for psv substitute jonathan reis to equalise each time, a last-gasp penalty earning the hosts a draw.
ac sparta praha led twice in the last 14 minutes of this thrilling uefa europa league group k encounter only for psv eindhoven substitute jonathan reis to equalise each time, the second an added-time penalty.
dramatic end roman hubník's breakthrough header seemed to have clinched the points for the dominant czech hosts but having finally got their noses in front reis levelled. back came sparta, martin zeman restoring the advantage only for a painful repeat as reis coolly converted from the spot after bony wilfried had fouled danko lazović.
tight start ıt was a tight start between two sides familiar with group-stage football from the uefa champions league. sparta gradually took the initiative and came mighty close on the half-hour mark, zeman's shot from the corner of the box turned around the post one-handed by the diving andreas ısaksson. ıt was a sign of things to come, wilfried coming closer still midway through the second period when he got to a cross ahead of ısaksson but his glancing header rebounded off the inside of the post and jan holenda missed from the rebound. a minute later a wilfried effort was pushed wide by ısaksson.
goal exchange the pressure finally told. zeman's free-kick from the right looped to the far post where defender hubník bounced a header into the roof of the net. psv responded within four minutes as balázs dzsudzsák sent in a free-kick and reis's powerful header gave jaromír blažek no chance. with three minutes left sparta substitute václav kadlec's pass was turned in by zeman, but as time ran out wilfried's slip allowed reis to make it 2-2. sparta will now seek a good result in a fortnight at fc københavn, looking to recover from a 2-0 loss away to psv's next visitors, cfr 1907 cluj.