FC Basel kept its Champions League hopes alive on Tuesday after holding out for a 3-2 victory over Otelul Galati after squandering a three-goal lead.
Basel raced into a 3-0 lead by halftime after Fabian Frei opened the scoring in the 10th minute, Alex Frei added the second and Marco Streller completed the scoring for the Swiss side in the 37th.
Otelul's players showed more determination in the second half and their efforts paid off in the 75th minute when Gabriel Giurgiu fired home and Liviu Antal found the net just six minutes later.
But Basel held on for a point which leaves it in a position to qualify for the knockout phase from its final Group C game - if it can beat Manchester United in Switzerland. Group leader Benfica and United both have nine points, while Basel has eight, with Otelul on zero points.
Watched by about 4,000 fans on a bitterly cold night at the Arena National in Bucharest, Otelul made a positive start to the opening minutes with Cristian Sarghi heading just over from a free kick taken by Adrian Salageanu.
The home side struggled, though, after Fabian Frei's low shot from within the box put Basel in front. Just four minutes later, the unrelated Alex Frei collected a pass from Streller and fired past Otelul goalkeeper Branko Grahovac.
Basel had another chance in the 24th minute but Xherdan Shaqiri could only send in a shot from 18 meters (yards) that flew high and wide.
However, Streller made no such mistake when he turned from goalmaker to goalscorer to give Basel a convincing lead at the break.
A revived Otelul was rewarded for turning up the pressure in the second half when Giurgiu collected the ball from Antal and scored with shot a goal from 16 meters (yards).
Minutes later, Antal capitalized on an error by South Korean defender Park Joo-ho, who was caught in possession and then made to pay when the Otelul midfielder made it 3-2 .
''I think we had a very good match, it's a shame we lost,'' Antal said. ''We showed we can face anyone.''
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