Ilie penalty rescues Valencia

Valencia CF endured a difficult evening at the Wojska Polskiego stadium, but still emerged with a 1-1 draw with Legia Warszawa in their UEFA Cup second round first-leg encounter. Ilie on target A penalty from seasoned Romanian striker Adrian Ilie salvaged a draw for the Primera División side, who had been struggling to come to terms with their Polish opponents. Confident finish Norwegian striker John Carew was pulled down on the edge of the area after 61 minutes, and Ilie stepped up to confidently nudge the ball low past Legia goalkeeper Wojciech Kowalewski. Legia rampant For a time it had seemed like Legia would provide an upset on home territory after they took a first-half lead through rugged midfielder Bartosz Karwan after just 12 minutes. Simple opportunity A swirling corner from Nigerian striker Moussa Yahaya was not cleared by two Valencia defenders, leaving Karwan with the relatively easy task of stabbing the ball past goalkeeper Andrés Palop from close range. Close watch Legia made life difficult for Valencia throughout the first half, with Marjan Gerasimovski and Wojciech Szala keeping a close watch on Carew while they darted forward. Few chances Karwan was a constant menace in midfield and pacy winger Radoslaw Wroblewski was a thorn in the side of the Valencia defence, but chances were few and far between. Good save Carew came close after 35 minutes but his header was saved by Kowalewski. In the resulting scramble, Roberto Ayala's shot was deflected wide by another Valencia player. Disaster averted However, Valencia will consider themselves fortunate not to have gone 2-0 down after 51 minutes when Sergei Amelianchyuk's floated free-kick forced Ayala to attempt to head the ball to safety five metres from his own goal. He did not make good contact and it took a superb save from Palop to nudge the ball wide. Yellow cards After the equaliser, the pace of the game dropped noticeably and a sequence of bookings showed that both sides were becoming frustrated with their inability to carve out openings. Late chance While Valencia continued to dominate possession, Legia came closest to a winner when Tomasz Sokolowski's flicked header flew narowly over the Valencia crossbar. 'A tough, hard match' Valencia coach Rafael Benitez acknowledged that it had been a difficult game for his side. "It was a tough, hard match," he said. "The Polish side were very aggressive in the first half, but we managed to score an equaliser. This was not an easy game for my team, but we expected the charged atmosphere at Legia's stadium - we have seen Legia matches on video." Coach happy Dragomir Okuka, his opposite number, was pleased with the final score. "Legia played very well tonight," he said. "I'm happy because of the result and also the way we played."