southampton undone by raducanu published: wednesday 15 october 2003, 21.07cet fc steaua bucuresti 1-0 southampton fc (agg: 2-1) a late goal from claudiu raducanu gives steaua victory.
an 84th-minute goal from claudiu raducanu propelled romanian side fc steaua bucuresti into the uefa cup second round at the expense of southampton fc.
unlikely success steaua's leading marksman popped up to knock in valeriu rachita's low cross and provide victor piturca's side with an unlikely 2-1 aggregate success.
radoi to the rescue southampton, with england internationals james beattie and kevin phillips in their starting lineup, looked to have learned their lessons from the first leg, and came close to breaking the deadlock on the half-hour. but a fabrice fernandes cross was scrambled to safety by steaua captain matei radoi with phillips and jason dodd lurking dangerously inside the penalty area.
bostina slip steaua responded with four corners in quick succession. they fashioned their best scoring chance of the opening period after 34 minutes, but gabriel bostina slipped as he latched on to marian aliuca's pass and scooped the ball high over the bar with only antti niemi to beat.
phillips denied southampton then replied with their best chance of the opening 45 minutes on the stroke of half-time but phillips was denied by vitali khomutouski's outstretched left leg. southampton raised the tempo in the second half as steaua were forced to adopt counter-attacking tactics. the visitors were almost rewarded when beattie headed down danny higginbotham's cross only for rory delap to miss the ball five metres from goal.
raducanu late strike anders svensson and paul telfer both went close with shots from range, but raducanu - who scored in the opening leg - managed to break the deadlock to see piturca's side through.
