SEVILLE, Spain, March 10 - French goalkeeper
Sebastien Frey produced an inspired display to help former UEFA
Cup winners Parma hold a dominant Sevilla to a 0-0 draw in a
second knockout round, first leg match on Thursday.
Frey's impressive performance between the posts, combined
with some wasteful finishing from the Sevilla strikers, allowed
the Serie A strugglers to escape with a draw that leaves the tie
wide open ahead of next week's second leg.
Sevilla took the initiative from the first whistle in front
of 35,000 fans at the Sanchez Pizjuan, with midfielder Jose Luis
Marti issuing an early warning to the visitors when he went
close with a thundering drive in the fifth minute.
French goalkeeper Frey then produced a spectacular diving
save to stop a powerful shot from midfielder Jesuli and pulled
off another great stop to deny striker Antonito soon after.
But the Italians, who are mired in the lower reaches of the
Serie A this season, managed to weather the early storm and
began to threaten on the break as the half wore on.
Sevilla's highly rated young midfielder Jesus Navas had a
lively game on the right wing and carved out a great chance for
his side when he cut a pass across the face of the goal just
before the break, but neither Antonito nor Pablo Alfaro were
able to connect.
Parma, without leading striker Alberto Gilardino and
midfielder Domenico Morfeo, produced an assured defensive
display as they continued to hold firm in the second half.
The Italians, who had eight players booked, went close to
grabbing the lead when Marco Marchionni fired in a goal-bound
free kick, only to see Sevilla keeper Esteban make a rapid
adjustment in order to deny the midfielder a certain goal.
Sevilla, who had won all four of their previous home matches
in the UEFA Cup this season, had several great chances to grab a
winner as they laid siege to the Parma area in the closing
minutes.
But substitute Ariza Makukula was unable to beat Frey with a
close range effort and Navas slammed a shot against the woodwork
just before the final whistle as the Andalucians were unable to
break the deadlock.