St Patrick's Athletic 1 Steaua Bucharest 2 (agg 1-5):Two late strikes from Steaua Bucharest denied Pat's the home win they craved over the Romanians at the RDS, but the League of Ireland side were not disgraced in front of their own fans. A comeback from a 3-0 first leg defeat was always highly unlikely, so the Inchicore side sought comfort in the home tie, targeting a win in Dublin to prove their worth against illustrious opponents.
That looked like it might be on the cards after Gareth O’Connor gave them the lead shortly after the break but three timely substitutions for the visitors condemned them to a 5-1 aggregate defeat.
Steaua coach Cristiano Bergodi’s willingness to make seven changes was evidence enough he thought his men could see the tie to a successful conclusion.
Returning captain Sorin Ghionea, however, almost gave Pat’s a sliver of hope when gifting the ball to Ryan Guy about 40 yards from his own goal.
With work still to do, Guy played a one two with Mark Quigley and found himself through on goal with just Robinson Zapata to beat in the Steaua goal.
The American, though, spurned a great opportunity to claw one back when he shot low and wide across the face of the goal seven minutes from the break.
It would have been a scarcely deserved lead, in truth, with the visitors having enjoyed the better chances in a frantic first half.
In the 33rd minute, Janos Szekely went closest when the volleyed over after Gary Rogers had parried Rafal Grzelak’s effort into his path.
Rogers proved a formidable obstacle throughout the opening period but Bergodi will not have been pleased with his side’s wastefulness.
O’Connor made no mistake taking his chance four minutes after the restart when he was picked out by Declan O’Brien’s low cross from the right and fired Pat’s into a 1-0 lead on the night.
Buoyed by the glimmer of hope, Pat’s were immediately back on the offensive and Alan Cawley very nearly brought them within striking distance when his 25-yard free kick struck the post.
Keen to get the ball back down the other end of the pitch, Bergodi introduced Banal Nicolita for Grzelak in the 57th minute and the Romanian international did not disappoint.
With nine minutes remaining, Guy sought out Rogers with a back pass but the goalkeeper chose to stay where he was, allowing Nicolita to nip in and finish off Pat’s.
Pat’s were then denied the scant consolation of holding Steaua to a draw when another two substitutes, Razvan Ochirosii and Romeo Surdu, combined for the former to tap into an unguarded net.
