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Leeds survive Troyes scare
Danny Mills is challenged by Carl Tourenne
Troyes 3-2 Leeds (5-6 aggregate)
E-mail your reaction to Football Talk Robbie Keane's goal put Leeds through to the third round of the Uefa Cup after the English side survived a severe scare at the hands of Troyes. Leeds suffered an early blow when Gharib Amzine's spectacular strike put the French club ahead before Mark Viduka equalised. The visitors began to stamp some authority on the game but Troyes soon forced their way back into the encounter and again took the lead.
David Hamed's 38th minute free-kick was deflected by Dominic Matteo past his own keeper Nigel Martyn. Jerome Rothen increased Troyes' lead and they were set to dump Leeds out of the competition - courtesy of away goals - if they could win 3-1. But Keane struck with a header in the 76th minute to see Leeds through. Troyes' attempts to overhaul the 4-2 first leg deficit had resulted in another open and entertaining tie. Troyes took just seven minutes to score when Leeds defender Michael Duberry, who has not started a game since last September, was forced to concede a corner from keeper Nigel Martyn's poor clearance. Patrice Loko played the corner to Moroccan international Amzine, who unleashed a powerful 25-yard shot to give Troyes a vital early goal. This served as a wake-up call for Leeds and they equalised after 14 minutes. Troyes keeper Tony Heurtebis could only palm a corner to David Batty, whose cross was headed in from close range by Viduka.
The home side soon gained the upper hand on the night and took the lead once more when Leeds defender Dominic Matteo deflected Hamed's free-kick past keeper Martyn. Encouraged by the fact they only needed one more goal to win 3-1 and go through on the away goals rule, vocal Troyes fans got the goal they craved. Rothen started a move outside the area before scoring with a first-time finish from a low cross to the near post. Loko should have increased the home side's lead four minutes later but shot over with only Martyn to beat. That miss proved costly, with Leeds breaking from a Troyes counter-attack to pull one back and put themselves in a position to go through to the next round. Viduka's shot was deflected to Keane and the Republic of Ireland striker headed in with the home side's players appealing for offside. Amzine went close with a long range effort but Troyes could not get the goal they needed to take the tie into extra-time.
Troyes: Heurtebis, Boutal, Olivier Thomas, Saifi, Hamed, Rothen, Bradja, Tourenne, Amzine, Loko, Danjou. Subs: Sekli, Adam, Gousse, Jbari, Leroy, Niang. Leeds: Martyn, Mills, Duberry, Matteo, Harte, Bakke, Dacourt, Batty, Kewell, Viduka, Keane. Subs: Robinson, Kelly, McPhail, Wilcox, Smith, Burns. Referee: M De Santis (Italy)
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