Teams:

Referee: Luc Huyghe (Belgium)

Goals: 29 mins. With United in some disarray following a linesman's raised flag, which denied an opener from Speed, Sofia took a quick free kick on the right side of their box. The ball quickly reached Litera outside the United penalty area and he lofted a 30 yard effort over a stunned Harper, inexplicably marooned midway across the box. 0-1
36 mins. Ball crossed from the left flank; guess which England centre forward bundled it into the net from about five yards ? 1-1
88 mins. A replica of a goal scored some years ago in the same Gallowgate end net; Paul Robinson meeting a low centre and scoring, after the ball evaded his leading foot but was knocked in by his standing left leg. 2-1
90 mins. Simeonov profited from defensive lapse to bury a close-range header from a left wing cross. 2-2

Waffle:

To use a lazy person's vernacular, this was very much "after the Lord Mayors show" when compared to the goalfeast that was Magpies 8 Owls O. The large number of ST holders who weren't tempted by the twenty quid "bargain" told its own story, but the fact that we ended up in the draw for the next round was the main exercise of the evening and this was duly achieved. Certainly many of the infrequent attendees seemed to enjoy it, when they eventually managed to find the seats they'd bought....

A head of steam was gradually worked up by United as they bore down on the Leazes end goal, but it took a disallowed Speed effort followed immediately by an opening goal for Sofia to really stir the passions of the players and damp fans. Almost inevitably, it was Shearer who applied the finishing touch to level things soon after, although on first view from behind the goal I thought the Bulgarian lad may have beaten him to it. TV evidence proved otherwise, and Wor Al had his third European goal in a black and white shirt.

For a while with the scores at 1-1 (3-1 over the tie) the visitors threatened to be as unambitious as they had been in the first leg, despite having made six changes from their lineup in Sofia. The fitful contributions of Maric were thankfully abetted by some good work from Solano and Domi, without cast-iron scoring opportunities being fashioned, but a good round of applause greeted the interval.

Little action worthy of note took place until after the replacement of Maric with Robinson twenty minutes before the end, a decision that caused a round of applause that can only be explained by relief that the Croatian was probably making a farewell bow on the park. Robinson came on with the intention of grabbing a debut senior goal and this duly arrived not long before the final whistle, in a slightly fortuituous manner it must be recorded.

Just as another home European victory looked secure, a poor decision by Robson to exchange McClen for Lee broke the concentration of his side, and a free kick resulted in an equaliser on the night, with barely enough time to restart. A bit poor, but in the great scheme of things not a disaster. 

Biffa