Birkirkara make it to Europa League second qualifying round
BIRKIRKARA 2
Dimitrov 28, Markovic og 76
NK SIROKI BRIJEG 0
Birkirkara sealed their passage to the second qualifying round of the Europa League in style this evening after they beat Siroki Brijeg 2-0 in the second leg of the first round tie.
A 1-1 draw in Bosnia last week ensured that Birkirkara came into the second leg brimming with optimism. However, they took the pitch with a sense of urgency that belied their status as favourites to reach the next round.
Shaun Bajada and Vito Plut combined well to create the first scoring opportunity after six minutes, Bajada threaded a through ball to slice open the Bosnian defence but Plut’s diagonal effort was parried away by Antonio Soldo, the Siroki goalkeeper.
The sizzling heat induced Azeri referee Rahim Hasanov to stop play for a minute in order for the players to drink some water.
The Birkirkara players looked refreshed after the short break to immediately open the score as Plut’s backheel filtered through a sea of Blue shirts to reach the Bosnian area and into the path of Srdan Dimitrov who left himself almost no margin of error in getting the ball between the post and the goalkeeper.
Four minutes from half-time, the visitors were...