Toni strikes as Bayern get past Getafe

London, April 11:

Bayern Munich striker Luca Toni scored two goals in the last five minutes of extra time on Thursday to earn the Bundesliga leaders a 3-3 draw at Getafe and a place in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup.

Getafe looked to have made it through when Javier Casquero and Braulio Nobrega scored in the first three minutes of extra time, but Toni earned the four-time European champions a 4-4 aggregate draw and a place in the next round on away goals.

Bayern will meet Zenit St Petersburg, who progressed past Bayer Leverkusen 4-2 despite a 1-0 home loss. Fiorentina won at PSV Eindhoven 2-0 to go through, while Rangers upset host Sporting Lisbon to win 2-0.

Getafe had earned a 1-1 draw at Bayern last week to give themselves a shot at progressing, and Cosmin Contra put the Spanish team ahead on Thursday in the 44th with his second goal of the series. But Franck Ribery earned Bayern another shot to advance with a minute of regular time remaining when he collected a deflected flick by Toni and scored past goalkeeper

Roberto Abbondanzieri.

That seemed to give Bayern a psychological edge but Casquero made it 2-1 in the first minute of extra time, and the substitute appeared to have secured an upset win two minutes later with a close-range shot. But Toni got a goal back with five minutes remaining and, in the last moments, scored his tournament-leading 10th goal with a downward header from a cross by Jose Ernesto Sosa.

Bayern will host Zenit in the first leg semi-finals on April 24. The Russian team withstood their loss because of a 4-1 win at Leverkusen last week.

Rangers meet Fiorentina next after the Italian team won in the Netherlands with two goals from Adrian Mutu. Mutu put his team ahead 2-1 on aggregate in the 38th with a long-range free kick and made the game secure eight minutes into the second half from a rebound after Giampaolo Pazzini’s shot was saved.

The away legs of the semi-finals are on May 1, with the final at the City of Manchester Stadium on May 14.