Yakin strike seals Basel victory over Deportivo
Midfielder Hakan Yakin thumped home a first-half winner for Swiss champions Basel who edged out Deportivo Coruna 1-0 on Wednesday to earn their first win in the second phase of the Champions League.
Midfielder Hakan Yakin thumped home a first-half winner for Swiss champions Basel who edged out Deportivo Coruna 1-0 on Wednesday to earn their first win in the second phase of the Champions League.
The younger of the two Yakin brothers accepted a pass from Julio Hernan Rossi and then fired a dipping 25-metre cross shot beyond Juanmi to settle the Group D clash.
On a bitterly cold night when the temperature fell to minus eight degrees Celsius, the win kept alive the Swiss club's hopes in the competition following two defeats late last year and left the Spaniards struggling at the foot of the standings.
"I am very happy with this result because it was a very intense night, very special for us and an important win," said Basel coach Christian Gross.
It was the first time Basel had ever beaten a Spanish club in European football and will be a huge boost to their confidence for the return next week.
Manchester United top the group with nine points. Juventus have four, Basel three while Deportivo have just one point.
"We can still do something in this group and it is not all over yet," said Deportivo coach Javier Irureta afterwards.
"But it was a very difficult game with the cold, the conditions and the power of the Basel team. My players tried hard, but we were unlucky. I did not expect this result."
The Spanish team never looked at home and their mood was betrayed from the start by the defensive 4-5-1 formation used by Irureta who left Dutch striker Roy Makaay as a lone striker and put Spanish international forward Diego Tristan on the bench.
Tristan came on in the second half for 40-year-old Brazilian Donato -- the second oldest player to appear in the Champions League -- and although he added more craft, there was still little punch from the visitors.
Makaay had two close-range efforts superbly saved by Pascal Zuberbuehler and a shot from Pedro Duscher cleared off the line by Sebastien Barberis.
At the other end Basel went close when the older Yakin, Murat, hit a post with a swerving 25 metre free kick.