published: friday 18 september 2009, 0.50cet cfr 1907 cluj 2-0 fc københavn
second-half goals from juan culio and substitute lacina traoré were just reward for the railwaymen's relentless running in romania.
second-half goals from juan culio and substitute lacina traoré were just reward for cfr 1907 cluj's relentless running against fc københavn in their uefa europa league group k opener.
legendary night a double goalscorer in cfr's famous 2-1 win at as roma in their opening uefa champions league group-stage match last season, juan culio broke the deadlock eight minutes after the interval. københavn kept on fighting, but the rangy traoré sent a terrific shot into the net via the underside of the crossbar to kill the danish titleholders off.
busy opening cristian panin had tested johan wiland early on as cfr buzzed relentlessly around the pitch, but københavn responded in kind. thomas kristensen almost converted a well-flighted free-kick with a header at the far post before cesar santin's finish was found wanting as he blazed across goal with just nuno claro to beat.
awkward finish cfr kept on running as the interval approached, with yssouf koné haring in on goal to deliver a shot which was bundled away by wiland, before sebastián dubarbier teed up ciprian deac to wing an effort just over the bar. no less industrious after the break, juan culio finally put cfr ahead, looping an awkward-looking shot into wiland's net after sixto peralta had rolled a free-kick to him from the byline.
final blow københavn continued to plug away – santin might have done better with one header – but were upstaged by traoré as he hit cfr's second on 75 minutes. nuno claro kept out two libor sionko shots in the space of a few seconds but there was still time for deac to ping a shot against the crossbar for cfr before the whistle gave them a well-earned rest.
