Damien Duff spared Blackburn from blushes as the Lancashire side blew a three-goal lead, but still made it through to the second round of the UEFA Cup on away goals.
Rovers travelled to Sofia with the scores tied (1-1) after the first leg, and they looked in complete control after goals from Thompson, Ostenstad and Republic of Irelands Damien Duff before the hour mark. But CSKA came back to tie things up (3-3), and with the scores tied on the night, Blackburn progress on the away goal rule. Dubliner Alan Mahon featured only for a couple of minutes as substitute for Andy Cole in the closing minutes.
Matt Holland featured for the Tractor Boys today in Yugoslavia (FK Sartid 0 – 1 Ipswich 1-2agg), and it looked the Irish midfielder recovered from his knee injury sustained in Ipswich’s defeat at Stoke two weeks ago. Holland’s availability will bring music to the ears of Mick McCarthy, due to the fact that the Irish midfield is currently light due to injuries.
Like Blackburn, Leeds United too were saved embarrassment by scraping a draw (1-1), against a team fifth from the bottom of the Ukrainian. Gary Kelly, Ian Harte and Stephen McPhail all featured for El Tels men who progress to the second round in the competition also (1-2agg).
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