Karabakh Plays in Draw, Gabala Defeated

On Thursday, the Azerbaijani football clubs played the first matches of the group stage of the Europa League.

In Baku Karabakh played in a draw 2: 2 with Czech Slovan.

The score was opened by the guests already at the 15^th second of the match, due to a rough error by Karabakh. Milan Baroš won the ball from Karabakh’s midfielder, Michel, and passed it to Jan Sikora, who sent the ball into the host team’s gate.

However, seven minutes later Michel corrected his mistake, closing the upper pass from a corner kick by the head.

After that, the initiative passed to Karabakh. In the first half and the beginning of the second half, the Azerbaijani team had a number of scoring chances, but did not use them.

Thereafter the guests distinguished. At the 68^th minute Baros was the first to take the ball parried by the goalkeeper of Karabakh and scored a new goal.

Under the "curtain" of the game the hosts equalized the score. At the 90 + 3 minute, the captain of Karabakh, Rashad Sadygov, kicked the ball from a penalty straight into the top corner.

In the group of J in addition to Karabakh and Slovan there are also the Italian Fiorentina and the Greek PAOK.

Another Azerbaijani team, Gabala, is in the group C, along with the Belgian Anderlecht, the French Saint Etienne and the German Mainz.

On Thursday in the first leg of the Europa League with Anderlecht the Azerbaijani team lost the guest match 1: 3. -06D--