steaua recover to send down zagłębie published: thursday 9 august 2007, 0.50cet fc steaua bucuresti 2-1 zagłębie lubin (agg: 3-1) the 1986 european champions came from behind to beat zagłębie and edge towards a group stage return.
by paul-daniel zaharia from steaua stadium
fc steaua bucuresti edged closer to their second successive appearance in the group stage by coming from behind to secure a 3-1 aggregate win against polish side zagłębie lubin.
comeback european champions in 1986, steaua ended a ten-year wait to grace the uefa champions league proper last season and are one round away from repeating the feat after earning a third qualifying round tie against fc bate borisov. they had to work for their victory in bucharest, however: michał stasiak levelled the aggregate scores on the half-hour before goals from banel nicolita and substitute dorel zaharia saw steaua through.
zapata mistake zagłębie had begun brightly and a minute after manuel arboleda was denied by the upright, stasiak made it 1-1 on aggregate as he pounced on a goalkeeping error by robinson zapata. parity was short-lived, though. nicolita's free-kick crept inside the post for the equaliser, yet steaua did not have it all their own way. zapata was given plenty of opportunities to make amends for his mistake in the second half, denying michał goliński and rui miguel, while at the other end adrian neaga struck the crossbar. zaharia finally sealed the win eight minutes from time to the relief of the home crowd.
