published: thursday 3 december 2009, 21.45cet psv eindhoven 1-0 ac sparta praha
jonathan reis's added-time strike earned fred rutten's side a last-32 spot and a fifth 1-0 uefa europa league home victory in a row.
psv eindhoven claimed top spot in uefa europa league group k after a last-gasp 1-0 victory over ac sparta praha.
contrasting halves the first half was a scrappy affair, with little urgency and only a couple of chances for psv's francisco rodríguez at the end. there was little improvement after the break either, but jonathan reis tapped in an added-time winner to hand his side their fifth successive 1-0 uefa europa league home win of the season.
keepers on top the home side enjoyed the best of the opening exchanges, forcing two corners in the first five minutes. the first effort on target came on the quarter-hour mark, but jaromír blažek comfortably held reis's header. ten minutes later ıgor Žofcák tested andreas ısaksson with a low drive but the swede prevailed.
rodríguez close twice ıbrahim afellay then twice fired over from distance rather than attempting to find a way through the packed sparta defence, but psv almost forced an opening right on half-time. first rodríguez was denied at point-blank range by blažek, and seconds later the same player flashed a header off the top of the bar.
forcing the issue psv forced a series of corners after the restart, but failed to threaten with any of them. the dutch side brought on ola toivonen for otman bakkal, but it was team-mate balázs dzsudzsák who almost scored seconds later, his free-kick fisted away at the near post by blažek. just when the game was heading for a goalless conclusion, the dutch side struck. danko lazović's deep cross was nodded on by orlando engelaar and reis knocked in the decisive goal. the result gives fred rutten's men an unassailable position at the top of the group, while sparta and fc københavn will do battle in prague in two weeks' time to determine who joins them in the last 32.
