Brest celebrated their UEFA Champions League debut with a historic victory as goals from Hugo Magnetti and Abdallah Sima secured a 2-1 win over Sturm Graz.
As well as making their debut in the competition, Brest were also playing in European football for the first time, and were eager to put on a show for a raucous home crowd that saw Kenny Lala’s shot blocked after less than 15 seconds, while Magnetti’s long-range effort went wide.
At the other end, Seedy Jatta thought he had broken the deadlock with a superb finish but his celebrations were cut short after he was caught offside early on.
The visitors were soon 1-0 down when Magnetti converted a historic strike into the opener, striking the ball from distance into the bottom corner to score Brest’s first ever UCL goal.
Magnetti opened the scoringADIL BENAYACHE / Sipa Press / Profimedia
This did not deter the Austrians, who seemed to be going into the break with a deficit, but they equalised in injury time thanks to a fortuitous goal when Bøving’s cross ricocheted off Edimilson Fernandes and we were treated to an own goal.
The hosts were undeterred and their captain Brendan Chardonnet headed just wide of goal after the break to regain the lead.
A few minutes later, the home fans were up in arms again thanks to a powerful strike from Sima, who used his body to turn in the middle of the penalty area before firing past Kjell Scherpen.
Sima had a chance to extend the hosts’ lead with another significant attack, but his header flew wide of the goal. It didn’t matter though, as Sturm Graz didn’t create many chances to salvage a point.
In fact, their night went from bad to worse when Dimitri Lavalée received a second yellow card for a foul on Magnetti.
Flashscore Man of the Match: Abdallah Sima (Brest)
See all match stats here.
