In the UEFA Conference League, Riga wins away from home, Liepāja loses; A goal for Ikauniek’s success / Diena

In general, “Riga” looked better on the field in the first half, but the goal was scored in an unusual way. In the 41st minute, after Oleksandrs Filipov went to the left side of the penalty area and played the ball through the air from the very end line, Gabriels Ramos scored a goal from the middle of the penalty area, the ball first hitting the ground and then flying into the upper right corner of the goal – 1:0.

In the 57th minute, Antoni Chernomordi, who earned a yellow card five minutes earlier, was forced to leave the field due to an injury. He was replaced by Ilya Korotkov, who almost immediately could have earned a penalty for handball in his penalty area, but the referee’s whistle went silent.

In the 65th minute, the pushing at the sideline ended with Riga’s Muzinga Ngonda being given a yellow card, and Matthew Smith – a red one. In addition to questioning the referee’s decision, the home midfielder William Patching and the assistant coach of the home team Alan Reynolds also received a yellow card.

Two minutes later, after Douglas Aureliu’s solo walk on the left side of the field and a pass almost from the end line of the penalty area to the middle of the penalty area, Filipov scored with an easy shot.

In the fifth minute of the compensation time of the match, Vladlen Yurchenko, who came to the field in the 76th minute as a substitute, hit the goal structure with a kick from the penalty area line.

The return match is scheduled for a week later in Riga.

In the second round of qualification, the winner of this pair will meet with “Ružomberok” from Slovakia or Kaunas “Žalgiris” from Lithuania.

“Riga” team will play in the European Cups for the fifth season in a row. They managed to reach the fourth round of the games in the 2019/2020 season, when after losing in the first round of the Champions League qualification, the club reached the “play-off” round of the European League, losing 2:3 to “Copenhagen” in the sum of two matches.

Also last year, after losing in the first round of the Champions League qualification, the club fought to the play-off round of the Conference League, losing 2-4 to the Gibraltar team “Lincoln Red Imps” in the sum of two matches in overtime.

On the other hand, “Derry City’s” experience in European club battles extends back to the 1964/1965 season. The most successful was the 2006/2007 season, when they managed to overcome two qualifying rounds in the UEFA Cup, beating the Swedish and Scottish clubs and losing only 0:2 to Paris “Saint-Germain” in the first round.

Three seasons later, the Northern Irish defeated Riga “Skonto” 2:1 in the second round of the European League, but did not compete in the European Cups in the previous season.

“Derry City” is the only team from Northern Ireland that competes in Ireland’s strongest football division. At the moment, the club is in third place, just like “Riga” in the Latvian championship.

It has already been reported that “Liepāja” lost 0:1 (0:1) to “Gjilani” at the “Fadil Vokrri” stadium in Pristina.

Alberts Dabikai scored the goal in the 37th minute after a pass from Elton Calais.

The return match is scheduled for a week later in Liepāja.

In the second round of qualification, the winner of this pair will meet the Swiss team “Young Boys” from Bern.

This is the sixth season for the “Liepāja” team on the European stage. The team has passed the first round of European Cups three times – twice in the Europa League and last year in the Conference League, beating “Struga” of North Macedonia 5:2 in the first round in the sum of two games, but in the second round losing 1:3 to CSKA Sofia in the second round after two goalless draws.

“Gjilani” made its debut in the European Cups in the 2020/2021 season, when it beat San Marino “Tre Penne” 3:1 in one game in the first round, but lost to Nicosia APOEL 0:2 in extra time in the second round.

“Liepāja” currently ranks fourth in the Latvian championship, while “Gjilani” took third place in the Kosovo championship last season.

Finnish club Kuopio “KuPS” also won on Thursday, defeating Gori “Dila” team from Georgia at home with 2:0 (1:0).

Latvian football team midfielder Jānis Ikaunieks scored a goal in the 32nd minute, but Tims Veirinens scored a penalty kick in the first minute of stoppage time.

The winners of the pairs will enter the second round of UEFA European Conference League selection, while the losers will have the Euro Cup season over.

Among the Latvian teams, “Valmiera” has already secured a place in the second qualifying round, which will meet with the winner of the pair of North Macedonian team “Škendija” from Tetova and Armenian “Ararat” from Yerevan.

–