Werder Bremen dumps AC Milan out of UEFA Cup

STUART Condie

AC Milan was knocked out of the UEFA Cup on away goals Thursday after surrendering a two-goal lead to draw 2-2 with Werder Bremen.

Andrea Pirlo put a Milan team including David Beckham ahead with a 27th-minute penalty and Alexandre Pato made it 2-0 six minutes later, but Peru striker Claudio Pizarro scored twice to eliminate the seven-time European champions and set up a meeting with Saint-Etienne in the round of 16.

Udinese was the only one of four Italian teams to progress following a 2-1 win over Lech Poznan. Sampdoria lost at Metalist Kharkiv 2-0 to go out 3-0 over two matches and Fiorentina was eliminated 2-1 following a 1-1 draw at Ajax.

England will also have just one representative in the round of 16 after Aston Villa and two-time UEFA Cup winner Tottenham were knocked out after fielding weakened teams. Villa was beaten by 2005 champion CSKA Moscow 2-0 and Tottenham drew 1-1 with Shakhtar Donetsk to go out 3-1, leaving only Manchester City to go through following its 2-1 win over FC Copenhagen.

Milan appeared to be cruising into the next round after adding two home goals to the away goal it got in a 1-1 draw in Germany two weeks ago. Pirlo scored a penalty after Torsten Frings had handled the ball in the area and Pato doubled the advantage with a shot from the edge of the area.

But Pizarro scored two headers to carry the Bundesliga team through to a meeting with Saint-Etienne in the next round.

"I understand the fans' jeers and I feel myself responsible," Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti said. "Elimination is a hard blow. If we were now to weigh up the season so far, it would be negative."

The first legs in the round of 16 are scheduled for March 12, with the return matches the following week.

Saint-Etienne completed a 5-2 aggregate win over Olympiakos with a 2-1 home victory, and French rival Paris Saint-Germain cruised to a 3-0 win at Wolfsburg to go through 5-1 and set up a meeting with Braga. Braga was already leading Standard Liege 3-0 before drawing 1-1 Thursday.

Although it was chasing a 2-0 deficit from the first leg, Tottenham rested almost its entire first team ahead of Sunday's League Cup final against Manchester United, and its seven substitutes, who were all aged 17 or 18, had a total of just four appearances between them.

"We're involved in a cup final on Sunday, that was the problem tonight," Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp said. "I don't even know how I am supposed to do anything else. I've had to juggle around this week."

LONDON, AP