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Champions
in Europe ... A Tribute to the 1981 UEFA Cup Winners
QUARTER-FINAL: ST. ETIENNE
"Les
Verts" - France's favorite club side
IPSWICH
RALLY TO CRUSH POWERFUL FRENCHMEN
St. Etienne 1 Ipswich 4
Ipswich flew home from St. Etienne last night with a place in the UEFA Cup semi-finals theirs for the taking after when they resume this tie at Portman Road a week next Wednesday.
A classic exhibition of attacking soccer enabled them to destroy one of Europe's most accomplished teams in a match that had begun with every indication that the Frenchman would emerge triumphant.
Ipswich played with great skill, spirit and maturity to keep their heads after conceding an early goal and then came back with couple from Mariner, and one apiece from Muhren and Wark to romp to the most impressive victory they have recorded on European soil.
"A tremendous almost faultless performance" was the verdict of their manager Bobby Robson. "We have demolished a good side with one of the best victories anyone has achieved in Europe in the past 10 years".
When the Frenchmen moved in front after only 17 minutes, the capacity crowd of 40,000 must surely have thought their heroes were going to sweep the English league leaders aside.
Yet, after Rep had headed St. Etienne in front spectacularly, Robson's men found their real touch.
For 10 torrid minutes they came under tremendous pressure but, with Osman and Beattie holding firm in the middle of their defence they weathered the storm.
Then, in the 28th minute the goal they so badly needed was headed home by Mariner, their England striker.
Muhren contributed largely to this important move with a beautifully judged curling centre to the far post, where Mariner leapt above the opposition and headed the ball down like a bullet into the back of the net.
That was enough to persuade Ipswich that they could match the formidable Frenchmen for skill and power.
Although they came under heavy pressure for the remainder of the half they demonstrated just how mature a team they have become during the past year.
By the second half much of the tension had disappeared from Ipswich's football. They began to play in a relaxed, controlled manner which eventually put them in charge.
With only four minutes of the second half gone, Muhren, who had a tremendous game, put the league leaders in front with a fierce left-foot shot from some 25 yards.
St. Etienne tried to get back into the game quickly with a series of menacing attacks. But on longer could Platini and Larios create the openings that had threatened to carry them to victory earlier on.
Moreover, the Frenchmen, in their eagerness to close the gap, left themselves open to sharp counter-thrusts and it was one of these that caused them to fall even further behind.
Brazil's cross to the far post was driven forward by Butcher, rebounded to Mariner, and the England striker promptly put it into the net for his second goal of the night and his 20th of the season.
In the 76th minute St. Etienne were caught again by a swift, simple Ipswich move which ended with Butcher's cross from near the by-line being headed confidently into the net by Wark for his 30th goal of the season, and his 10th in the current UEFA Cup competition.
St. Etienne - Castaneda; Battiston, Zanon, Gardon, Lopez, Janvion, Paganelli, Larios, Roussey, Platinin, Rep.
Ipswich - Cooper; Mills, Butcher, Thijssen, Osman, Beattie, Wark, Muhren Mariner, Brazil, Gates.
Donald Saunders (Daily Telegraph)
IPSWICH
CRUISE IN AS WARK SCORES HIS 32nd GOAL
Ipswich Town 3 St. Etienne 1
(Ipswich won 7-2 on aggregate)
Ipswich moved comfortably into the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup at Portman Road last night with second half goals by Terry Butcher, John Wark and Paul Mariner. St. Etienne's consolation came from Jacques Zimako.
Cushioned by the 4-1 lead they had earned in France a fortnight earlier, Ipswich were able to play relaxed football which, at this stage of European competition, is something of a luxury.
In contrast St. Etienne played like men who carried a very heavy burden and did not really believe they could possibly survive.
So, Ipswich soon took control of a rather disappointing game. Muhren, Thijssen and Wark moved the ball about comfortably in midfield, where Platinin and his accomplished colleagues looked sadly out of touch.
The main danger to Ipswich was over confidence. They tended to waste useful looking moves with careless final passes or misdirected shots. Indeed, one beautiful piece of football by Thijssen ended with Brazil driving the ball wide from a good position.
Brazil, who seemed to be troubled by the leg injury that had made him a doubtful starter, also was off target when Wark pushed the ball through from midfield.
Meanwhile, Mariner, watched by England manager, Ron Greenwood,, looked as sharp as a razor as he approached the penalty box - although he, too, was woefully off target when two reasonable chances were offered him.
Still, Ipswich kept moving forward patiently, as though they were satisfied that goals would come eventually to enable them to widen a gap that already seemed vast enough to ensure then a semi-final place.
Only occasionally did St. Etienne threaten to break out of midfield and, when they did, the Ipswich defence quickly sent them back again.
So young Steggles, making his senior debut on the eve of his 20th birthday, was able to play himself in quietly against Rep, the Dutch World Cup winger, who made little impact on the game in the first half.
Even the most pessimistic supporter knew that victory had been put far beyond St. Etienne's reach after only two minutes of the second half.
Butcher, celebrating his selection for the England squad, rose powerfully above the French defence to head a corner from Thijssen firmly into the net.
Six minutes later, manager Bobby Robson decided that he could know afford to pull off Brazil, who clearly was below par, and allow him to avoid any further damage that might keep him out of the rather more difficult match facing Ipswich at Old Trafford on Saturday.
O'Callaghan took over and within 10 minutes, had forced Castaneda into an agile save.
Mariner, too, gave the French goalkeeper an opportunity to demonstrate his ability with a fierce shot, which Castaneda fisted around the corner.
After D'Avray had replaced Gates in the 75th minute, the game was drifting quietly to a close when Zimako brought it back to life by heading home a cross from Rep, in the 80th minute.
But, within a minute, Ipswich had hit back to reestablish their four goal aggregate lead. The marksman was Wark, who thumped home a penalty after Larios has handled, to bring his season's total of goals to 32, 11 of them scored in this competition.
With only a minute to go Mariner widened the gap still further by hammering the ball into the net after Butcher had been charged down.
Ipswich - Cooper; Steggles, Mccall, Thijssen, Osman, Butcher, Wark, Muhren, Mariner, Brazil (O'Callaghan, 53), Gates (D'Avray, 75)
St. Etienne - Castenada; Battiston, Zanon, Gardon, Lopez, Janvion, Zimako, Larios, Roussey, Platinin, Rep.
Donald Saunders (Daily Telegraph)