Otelul Galati 2-3 Basel: Swiss hold off late fightback from hosts to keep Group C qualification hopes alive

Basel beat a resilient Otelul Galati 3-2 on a bitterly cold night at the National Stadium in Bucharest to retain hope of progressing from Champions League Group C on Tuesday.

First-half strikes from Fabian Frei, Alexander Frei and Marco Streller put Basel in control before late goals from Gabriel Giurgiu and Liviu Antal created a tense finish, but the visitors held on to claim a valuable three points. A do-or-die clash with Manchester United is now set for Basel on matchday six.

Otelul should have taken an early lead in the fourth minute, when Laurentiu Iorga swung the ball in from a free kick but Cristian Sarghi could not react in time at the back post and headed over the Basel bar.

The Swiss side then took the lead against the run of play. Frei played a lovely ball into the area where fellow veteran Streller controlled it before teeing up Frei, who struck the ball low and hard at Branko Grahovac. It should have been a simple save for the Bosnian keeper, but the ball found its way into the back of his net through his body.

Five minutes later, Frei and Streller linked up well again when Streller found himself with time and space on the left wing and drifted a perfectly timed cross into the area where the prolific Frei calmly side-footed into the Otelul goal.

Otelul’s second-best chance came when Adrian Salageanu swung in a free kick from outside the Basel area but no one could get on the end of it as Yann Sommer caught the ball comfortably.

Streller put the game out of Otelul’s reach when the Basel captain scored his first-ever Champions League goal in the 37th minute. Milan Perendija’s poor attempt at clearing the ball was blocked by Frei and fell into the path of Streller. The tall forward made no mistake in slotting the ball past Grahovac to give the Swiss champions a 3-0 lead.

Dorinel Munteanu’s hosts simply had to improve, and had the first real chance of the second half when Salageanu’s curling free kick found its way to Sommer, who could only parry the ball away.

The Romanian side scored its first ever Champions League goal at home thanks to some sloppy Basel defending 15 minutes from time. Liviu Antal poked the ball back to the edge of the area, and Giurgiu slammed into the roof of the net.

Six minutes later, Basel’s Park Joo-Hoo controlled the ball inside his own area before attempting a weak pass that was intercepted by Antal. The young Romanian international made no mistake in finishing past Sommer to lift the small crowd inside the stadium, and set up an unlikely comeback.

Munteanu’s side continued to press for the equalizer, but the Swiss side held on for a plucky three points.

The final round of Group C sees Basel entertain 2011 finalists Manchester United, with a win over the English giants meaning progression to the knockout stages. Otelul travels to Benfica, still in search of its first-ever Champions League point.

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