Courtesy: UEFA.com


Happy Friday night for Benfica, Puntar and Araz

Friday 2 October 2009

SL Benfica, KMN Puntar and Araz Naxçivan all took their places in the UEFA Futsal Cup Elite round after Friday's Main round fixtures.

Lineup clearing
Holders Interviú Madrid, 2008 winners MFK Viz-Sinara Ekaterinburg, that season's runners-up ElPozo Murcia FS and AFC Kairat Almaty, given a bye to the next stage in November, had already been joined by FK Nikars Riga, FK Era-Pack Chrudim and Action 21 Charleroi in the 16-team 14 October draw. And Benfica, Puntar and Araz all moved on to six points from two games in their groups to progress with a match to spare, leaving six berths to be decided over the weekend.

Duo through
Benfica, runners-up in 2003/04, opened Group 4 in Slovenia with a 15-1 defeat of Montenegro Stars Budva and followed that up by overcoming Viten Orsha of Belarus 7-1, Joel Queirós claiming a hat-trick. Hosts Puntar saw off Budva 7-0 to ensure their progress with Benfica, who they must beat on Sunday to finish top.

Potpićan relief
Azerbaijani champions Araz, having begun Group 5 by defeating AC Omonia 4-1, were level against Serbia's KMF Kolubara Lazarevac after 26 minutes but then Vitaliy Borisov scored the first of two goals and Rizvan Farzaliyev and Thiago completed a 4-0 win. Croatian hosts MNK Potpićan 98, who beat Kolubara on Thursday, led Omonia 3-2 late on and were set to go through but Drazen Novoselac's late red card was swiftly followed by Manolis Manoli's 39th-minute equaliser. To qualify, Omonia must beat eliminated Lazarevac on Sunday and hope Potpićan lose to Araz; even then the Cypriot side must overturn a goal difference deficit to the hosts of four.

Trio contending
Two other groups will go to the wire on Sunday. In Group 1, opening day winners Lupanense Calcio A5 and FC Time Lviv drew 3-3, the Italian side coming back from two down to level by the break and then lead late on only for Maxym Pavlenko to equalise with 30 seconds left. Hungary's MVFC Berettyóújfalu, staging the pool in Debrecen's UEFA European Futsal Championship finals venue of the Fönix Arena, ended the hopes of SC Tornado Chisinau 4-2 and are now within a point of the top two. They must beat Luparense on Sunday and Time can only be knocked out if they lose to Tornado and Berettyóújfalu also win.

Iberia ahead
Iberia 2003 Tbilisi, the only side to enter every edition of the UEFA Futsal Cup, have maximum points in Group 6 after a 2-0 defeat of fellow Matchday 1 victors FC Marlène of the Netherlands. Marlène remain second on head-to-head record above Romanian hosts FC CIP Deva, 9-1 victors against Erebuni Yerevan. With fate in their own hands on Sunday, Iberia need only avoid a three-goal defeat against Deva on Sunday while Marlène will definitely go through if they beat Erebuni, who themselves require a 13-goal win and a loss for the hosts. Deva, to make sure of progress, require a two-goal victory. Before that on Saturday, Group 3 concludes in Belgium with Action 21 Charleroi confirmed in first place, but the race for second position decided in the early fixture; Greece's Athina '90 currently lead Finnish opponents Golden Futsal Team on goal difference.







Posted by Luca Ranocchiari --> luca.ranocchiari@futsalplanet.com