Football | HJK opened the European games with a victory over the Latvian champion

HJK–FK RFS 1–0

Helsinki The football club started its summer European play by defeating the Latvian FK RFS at home in the opening part of the first qualifying round of the Champions League.

On Wednesday, HJK, who had struggled with scoring on their home fields in the last rounds, opened the goal taps already in the tenth minute by Manuel Martić with a front corner shot.

After his vertical run, Martić won the fight inside the penalty area Stefan Paničia and fired a low shot past the foot of the left post Vytautas Černiauskas.

In the end, the Austrian Martić’s hit was the only one of the night. The match was watched by 3,874 spectators at the Bolt Arena in Töölö.

Profit was HJK’s first since mid-June. The club went to the Eurocourts after Saturday’s KuPS draw and the previous three defeats.

The teams will play the second leg next week on Tuesday. The match will be played at the Slokas stadium, which is located near Riga in the beach town of Jūrmala.

RFS will take the match to the 2,500-seat home stadium of FK Spartaks Jūrmala, as in its previous European games, because its own home ground does not meet UEFA’s requirements.

RFS, which won its first Latvian championship last season, is playing on Eurocourts for the fourth season in a row. It appears in the Champions League qualifiers for the first time.

The news is updated.