HJK will face Czech big club Viktoria Plzeň in the second qualifying round.
Riga FS–HJK 2–1, penalty kicks 4–5 (total goals 2-2)
HJK progressed from the first round of the Champions League qualifiers, knocking out Latvia’s FS Riga away on penalties.
The match went to the tough ones, because the total goals of the two matches were equal 2–2. HJK arrived in Latvia with a 1–0 home win under their belts, but lost the second match 1–2.
Riga FS’s unlucky warrior was Stefan Panic, who threw his own joke into the sky. All HJK shooters were successful.
HJK was defeated right at the beginning of the second half when Artūrs Zjuzins went for a spin Conor Hazard’s dropped loose ball into the goal.
In the 56th minute, the nightmare started to materialize when Tomislav Saric was completely alone in front of the goal in the free kick situation of Riga FS. HJK stopped having given the free kick Petr Marešin from a blur behind the ball and let Šarič score to make it 2–0.
Murilo won the match in overtime by scoring a stunning free kick goal a quarter of an hour before the final whistle. The Brass defender cleverly placed the ball under the Latvian wall in the bottom corner.
“The first 60 minutes were difficult. The opponent pushed a lot and we froze in part. In overtime, both teams were very tired on the field. Really tough field and weather. A strong performance will take the next place from that, many players had a hard time”, coach Toni Koskela comment.
HJK in the second qualifying round, will immediately face a much tougher opponent: the Czech big club Viktoria Plzeň. Wins from all four qualifying rounds are required for the group stage of the Champions League.
“A really, really tough opponent. When you win the Czech championship, it means that it’s a really tough team,” Koskela said.
If HJK loses to Viktoria Plzeň, it still has the chance to advance to either the Europa League or the Conference League.
HJK received bad news during the match. Scored the winning goal in the first game Manuel Martić is injured on the sidelines for approximately three months.
The injury concerns of the people of Helsinki also grew in the latter match. Try Soiri held his leg already in the 19th minute and had to be replaced.
Match was played in Jurmala at the 2,500-seat FK Spartaks Jūrmala home stadium, twenty kilometers from Riga, because the Latvian team’s own stadium does not meet the requirements of European games.
However, the conditions at the Jurmala stadium were not exactly top-notch either. There were no lights on the field at all, so the match was played in darker conditions than usual and, on top of that, in heavy rain.
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