The first match between these teams last week on neutral ground in Bucharest was won 2:1 by Hapoel, so in the overall two-leg encounter Sabah won with a score of 6:4.
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V. Dambrauskas will become the first Lithuanian coach whose team will play in the most prestigious European club football tournament. Among the possible opponents of V. Dambrauskas’s team are the entire European elite, led by Paris Saint-Germain, London Arsenal, Munich Bayern, Barcelona, Madrid Real, and others.
For the Sabah club, this is the first time ever that they will play in one of the UEFA tournaments.
In the decisive match, V. Dambrauskas’s dreams were almost shattered by a very rough goalkeeper mistake that led to both conceded goals.
Already in the second minute, a goal was scored against V. Dambrauskas’s team, but after a review lasting a couple of minutes, it was canceled due to an offside detected with the help of VAR.
In the 8th minute, Sabah could have taken the lead, but Kahim Parris, who found himself in a great position, hit the post.
Soon after, a goal was scored, but into the Azerbaijani champions’ net. Sabah goalkeeper Stas Pokatilov made a gross mistake, which was exploited by Igor Zlatanović who directed the ball into the net (0:1).
The score was equalized by Sabah forward from Nigeria, Christian Nwachukwu – he scored in the 38th minute and revived the hopes of V. Dambrauskas’s team (1:1).
Sabah could have scored another goal at the very beginning of the second half – Joy-Vance Mickels nicely broke through between defenders in the 49th minute, but his shot hit the crossbar and did not turn into a goal.
Finally, the second goal fell into the Baku team’s net – S. Pokatilov hurriedly rolled the ball not to a teammate but to an opponent, and Guy Mizrahi took advantage of the goalkeeper’s mistake and restored the lead for the Israeli champions (1:2).
But that was not the end. In the 74th minute, Umarali Rakhmonaliev fired a shot from afar and, leaving no chance to the opposing goalkeeper, equalized the score again (2:2).
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It seemed that Sabah would not manage to find a third goal, but V. Dambrauskas’s men succeeded in doing so in the last seconds of the second half – after almost all four added minutes had been played, Tellur Mutallimov sent the ball into the net with an impressive right-footed shot after a raised corner, bringing his team and the fans gathered in the stadium into absolute euphoria (3:2).
This goal meant that the teams had to play extra time, as the aggregate score was 4:4.
In extra time, Sabah continued their search for a goal, which was facilitated by the second yellow card received by Hapoel player Djibril Diop in the 100th minute, forcing him to leave the field.
Just a minute later, V. Dambrauskas’s team triumphed – Orphe Mbina headed the ball into the net after a raised free kick and put Sabah ahead in the two-leg series (4:2).
The Baku team’s victory was secured by Joy-Vance Mickels. The forward from Rwanda scored from the crossbar in the 115th minute (5:2), and after the referee announced the end of the match a few minutes later, V. Dambrauskas and his players danced a victory dance – Sabah qualified for the elite European football teams for the first time in history.
Hapoel finished the match with one less player as well – Eliel Peretz received a red card in the 116th minute.
This season’s Champions League tournament will start on September 8, with 36 teams playing in the main stage.
Sabah, like other tournament participants, will play eight matches against different opponents, who will be determined in the draw ceremony taking place on Thursday.
On Wednesday, three Lithuanian footballers will also have a chance to break into the Champions League – the Celje team from Slovenia, represented by Armando Kucys, Pijus Širvys, and Artemijus Tutyškinas, will play the return match against Bratislava Slovan. The first match at Slovan’s ground ended in a 1:1 draw.
