Noticia nº90.624

/noticias.info/ FC Basel 1893 striker Mladen Petrić saved a stoppage-time penalty to ensure a point for the home side after AS Nancy-Lorraine had twice led in this thrilling UEFA Cup Group E encounter in Switzerland.

Dramatic conclusion
Petrić was forced into goalkeeping action after Basel No1 Franco Contanzo was dismissed for a professional foul, with the hosts having used all their substitutes. Yet the Croatian international kept out substitute Michaël Chrétien's spot-kick to leave the scores tied after Scott Chipperfield and Mile Sterjovski had equalised goals from Kim and Pascal Berenguer.

One apiece
The game had exploded into life just after the half-hour when Monsef Zerka broke down the right for the French team and cut into the area before laying off a perfectly weighted pass for Kim, who finished with aplomb. The Basel response was immediate: Reto Zanni supplying Chipperfield as the Australian international broke from midfield to fire past Olivier Sorin from inside the area.

Scoring form
But Nancy, flying high in France and seeking a second group-stage win from as many matches, were back in front within two minutes. Berenguer, who like Kim had scored against Wisla Kraków last time out, curled in a superb free-kick after he had been upended by Papa Malick Ba. After the restart, Basel hinted at a second equaliser through Koji Nakata, yet the visitors might have gone further ahead when Andre Luiz headed over and Berenguer was denied by Contanzo.

Heroics
Parity was restored, however, on 56 minutes as Sterjovski got the final touch to a free-kick from the influential Petrić. The latter's work was only done, though, after Costanzo received his marching orders for a foul on Issiar Dia and Chrétien stepped up to take the last-gasp penalty. Petrić's save left Basel with two points from three outings, two behind Nancy who have played a game less.