published: wednesday 14 december 2011, 20.56cet paris saint-germain fc 4-2 athletic club
two late goals fired the hosts to victory but proved insufficient as fc salzburg's success ensured they qualified at psg's expense.
two late goals fired paris saint-germain fc to victory against athletic club but proved insufficient as salzburg fc's success means they claimed second spot in uefa europa league group f at the expense of the french club.
the hosts knew they needed to better the austrian side's result at šk slovan bratislava, and fulfilled their side of the bargain. javier pastore cancelled out jon aurtenetxe's early strike before mathieu bodmer handed the parisians a half-time lead. although david lópez levelled, antoine kombouaré's charges roared to victory in the last five minutes thanks to íñigo pérez's own goal and a guillaume hoarau penalty. celebrations were cut short, however, with salzburg's win condemning psg to third.
the visitors were already assured of top spot, yet still managed to unsettle a sluggish psg early on. goalkeeper nicolas douchez had already pushed out ıgor gabilondo's low cross-shot when aurtenetxe headed in lópez's corner inside three minutes.
the hosts stirred to life, nenê and pastore tormenting their opponents with some silky skills. the south american duo were involved in the ligue 1 club's 21st-minute equaliser, jean-christophe bahebeck nodding down the brazilian's free-kick and pastore side-footing high into the net.
although the bilbao outfit continued to threaten – pérez's drive stinging douchez's hands on the half-hour – the hosts were now attacking in waves. kevin gameiro twice broke clear only to be denied by a brave raúl, and bahebeck squandered two openings before the second goal arrived on 41 minutes; bodmer meeting nenê's corner with a neat glancing header.
psg's hopes were dealt a blow ten minutes into the second half when lópez swerved a superb shot beyond douchez from 20 metres, but substitutes mevlüt erdinç and guillaume hoarau gave the french team the impetus they needed. seconds after nenê blasted a penalty over, pérez turned erdinç's cross past his own goalkeeper, and hoarau added a fourth from the spot after nenê had been fouled.
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