Pizarro the hero as Bremen stun Milan in UEFA Cup

Hamburg - Claudio Pizarro scored twice as Werder Bremen came from two goals down to knock AC Milan out of the UEFA Cup Thursday while Aston Villa also failed to make it past the round of 32 stage. Bremen have been struggling in the Bundesliga this season and looked to be on their way out of the UEFA Cup when an Andrea Pirlo penalty and a goal from Brazilian Pato gave the Serie A side a 2-0 lead at the break. However, a second-half brace from Peru international Pizarro stunned the home crowd at the Guiseppe Meazza stadium and levelled the tie at 3-3 on aggregate with Bremen progressing on the away goals rule. An Aston Villa side packed with reserves lost 2-0 to Russian side CSKA Moscow, who progress 3-1 on aggregate. Martin O'Neill's side went into their second-leg clash in Moscow with the tie finely poised at 1-1 but fell behind after 66 minutes when Yuri Zhirkov played a one-two with Alan Dzagoev before firing past goalkeeper Brad Guzan. Tournament top scorer Vagner Love made it 2-0 in injury time to register his 10th UEFA Cup goal of the season. Tottenham Hotspur also failed to make it to last 16 after a 1-1 draw saw Shakhtar Donetsk progress 3-1 in aggregate but a Craig Bellamy brace saw Manchester City beat FC Copenhagen 2-1 to win 4-3 on aggregate. Holders Zenit St Petersburg remain in the hunt to defend their title as goals from Igor Semshov and Viktor Fayzulin ensured a 2-1 victory over VfB Stuttgart to move into the next round 4-2 on aggregate. Metalist Kharkiv beat Sampdoria 2-0 to move into the last 16 thanks to a 3-0 aggregate win. The Ukrainians held a one-goal lead from their first-leg tie in Italy and promptly took full control against Sampdoria thanks to a strike on the half-hour mark from Serhiy Valyayev and a free kick from Brazilian Jaja five minutes before the break. SV Hamburg booked their place in the next round with 1-0 victory over Dutch side NEC Nijmegen. Holding a comfortable three-goal lead from the first leg, Croatia international Ivica Olic secured the 4-0 aggregate win when he scored the only goal of the game after just nine minutes. Peguy Luyindula netted a brace as PSG enjoyed a 3-1 victory over VfL Wolfsburg to progress 5-1 on aggregate, while Turkish side Galatasaray suffered a major fright against Bordeaux before eventually prevailing 4-3 on the night and on aggregate thanks to a last-minute goal from Sabri Sarioglu. David Bellion gave the visitors the perfect start, firing Bordeaux ahead after just one minute but goals from two goals from Arda Turan - with a Harry Kewell effort sandwiched in between - saw Galatasaray race into a 3-1 lead. However two goals in two minutes from Fernando Cavenaghi and Marouane Chamakh looked to have booked Bordeaux's place in the next round on the away goals rule until Sarioglu's strike. Marseille progressed on penalties to make their way past Dutch side Twente Enschede after the tie finished 1-1 on aggregate at the end of extra time. Ben Arfa scored the only goal of the game for Marseille to set up the tense finale, with Marseille prevailing 7-6 in the shootout after Slobodan Rajkovic missed his spot kick. A 1-1 draw against Fiorentina was enough for Ajax to progress 2-1 on aggregate while St Etienne go through 5-2 on aggregate after a 2-1 win over Greek side Olympiakos. Braga beat Standard Liege 1-0 to progress 4-1 on aggregate while a 2-1 victory for Udinese ensured a 4-3 aggregate victory over Polish side Lech Poznan.