Braaten keeps Toulouse hopes alive
Published 21:21 03/12/09 By Pa Sports
Daniel Braaten kept Toulouse's hopes of reaching the next stage of the Europa League alive with a 54th-minute winner against Partizan Belgrade in France.
Braaten's effort from a Paulo Machado corner earned his side a 1-0 win as they closed the gap on Group J rivals Club Brugge to one point, following the Belgians' hard-earned goalless draw at runaway group leaders Shakhtar Donetsk.
And it set up a thrilling Group J finale in Belgium in two weeks' time, where a win for Toulouse would cap a remarkable comeback from the brink of elimination.
Shakhtar's point ensured they will progress as group winners. There will be a similar climax in Group K, where FC Copenhagen's 2-0 win over bottom-placed CFR Cluj will send them into their decider with Sparta Prague level on points with their opponents.
Martin Vingaard and Dame N'Doye scored either side of half-time to give the Danes a comfortable win and the news they needed from Holland, where Tomas Repka's stoppage-time own goal gave PSV Eindhoven the points.
Victory saw PSV secure top spot with Copenhagen and Sparta locked together in joint second on seven points heading into their crucial clash in Czech Republic.
Markus Rosenberg's brace led the way for already-qualified Werder Bremen to consolidate top spot in Group L with a 4-1 win over Nacional. Marcelo Moreno and Marko Marin also scored after Ruben Nicael had reduced the deficit.
Spain international Fernando Llorente struck twice as Athletic Bilbao also progressed with a 3-0 win at Austria Vienna in a match badly marred by crowd disturbances.
Llorente's goals came either side of a strike from Mikel San Jose on the hour, and soon after that goal the match was suspended for around 25 minutes following ugly disturbances in the stands at the Franz Horr Stadion.
Play was initially stopped after objects were thrown onto the pitch, and then the Athletic players raced to the changing rooms as supporters climbed over a fence and invaded the playing surface. Riot police formed a line just outside the penalty area while the Austria team spoke with the supporters to try to calm the situation before the match was finally able to restart.
