<!–
Photo: “Riga FC”
On Thursday, “Riga” celebrated the victory at home and entered the third round of UEFA Conference League qualification. “Riga” defeated the players of “Ružomberok” from Slovakia 2:1 (1:0) at the “Skonto” stadium, celebrating a 5:1 victory in the sum of two matches.
“Riga” had a great opportunity to take the lead in the middle of the half, when Marcelo Torres intercepted the ball and went alone against the visiting goalkeeper Ivan Krajcirik. The shot was saved by the goalkeeper, the repeated shot hit the post, but in the continuation of the attack, the ball flew past the goal after Douglas Aureliu’s shot. The home team scored a goal in the 39th minute, when after a corner kick by Mikaela Soisalo, Hrvoje Babec moved towards the ball from the right side and headed the ball into the lower left corner of the goal – 1:0.
In the 53rd minute, the Slovaks equalized the result with a 11-meter penalty kick. Gustavo Dulanto looked to have hit the ball but Marco Kelemen got caught with one foot behind the other. However, the referee awarded a penalty kick, which Jans Maslo scored with a kick in the left corner of the goal, 1:1. Goalkeeper Toms Puriņš touched the ball with his left hand, but it hit the crossbar and flew into the goal. Five minutes later, the hosts regained the lead 2:1. Almost from the left corner flag, Glodi Ngonda made a cross, and from the middle of the penalty area, Soisalo headed the ball into the bottom right corner of the goal.
In the second half, both teams made five substitutions each, but the result did not change. In the next round, the “Riga” team will have to compete with the fifth strongest team in Portugal last season, “Gil Vicente” from Barcelona.
“Riga” met Irish club “Derry City” in the first round and won both games with 2:0. On the other hand, “Ružomberok”, which consists of only Slovak footballers, defeated Kaunas “Žalgiris” from Lithuania in the sum of two games with 2:0. The players of “Riga” are third in the Latvian championship, while the Slovak vice-champions “Ružomberok” have started the new season with a victory and a draw in the Slovak championship. The 2006 Slovakian champion “Ružomberok” is playing on the European stage for the sixth time.
Latvia’s vice-champion “Valmiera” is also visiting Tetova’s “Škendija” team in North Macedonia. This fight can be seen on “Best4Sport TV”. On the other hand, “Liepāja” meets the Swiss club “Young Boys” of Bern.
The UEFA Conference League is the third-tier club competition in Europe, after the Champions League and the Europa League. In May, the Italian team “AS Roma” was crowned the first champion of the tournament in Tirana.
–
