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EINDHOVEN, Netherlands (AP) — Midfielder Davy Proepper fired an 86th-minute winner for PSV Eindhoven to beat CSKA Moscow 2-1 on Tuesday and reach the knockout stage of the Champions League for the first time since 2006.
Veteran defender Sergei Ignashevic appeared to have dashed Eindhoven hopes of advancing when he converted a 76th-minute penalty to give Moscow the lead, but PSV captain Luuk de Jong equalized just two minutes later, and Proepper's low shot sealed the win.
"They really deserved it," PSV coach Phillip Cocu said. "They didn't let their heads hang after the setback."
Ultimately, Manchester United's 3-2 defeat at Wolfsburg meant a draw would have been enough for PSV to take second place in Group B.
CSKA was already out of contention for the next round, but could have secured a Europa League berth with a win in Eindhoven.
"It was a tough match," Cocu said. "You know you will only get a couple of chances and you have to convert them."
PSV did just that, even after Andres Guardado conceded the penalty that gave CSKA the lead late in the second half.
Jorrit Hendrix rushed to pick up the ball for the restart, and the gritty midfielder's header two minutes later found De Jong onside in the area. The striker calmly slotted the ball past goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev.
With United briefly drawing level in Wolfsburg, PSV players thought they had to win to advance, and they poured forward.
A loose ball dropped to Proepper on the edge of the area and the midfielder did well to control his shot and bury the ball in the corner.
"It came off my foot perfectly," he said.
The fireworks in the last quarter of an hour were a stark contrast to much of the rest of the game in which neither side could clearly gain the ascendency.
De Jong should have opened the scoring a half hour in, rising above Aleksandrs Cuana in front of the CSKA goal to meet a cross from the left by Hector Moreno, but he headed straight into the arms of Akinfeev.
Two minutes earlier, central defender Jeffrey Bruma made a perfectly timed sliding tackle on the edge of PSV's penalty area to deny Seydou Doumbia after he turned away from Nicolas Isimat-Mirin and shaped to shoot.
Zoran Tosic also came close for the visitors with a curling free kick that Jeroen Zoet dived to his right to save.
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