A quick reminder: before we go into Gold Cup semifinal matters, we have a few Americans attempting to help their clubs into the third qualifying round of the first edition of the Europa League today.
Ryan Guy and St. Pat's Maltese showdown at Valetta kicks off in a couple of hours with the tie knotted at ones from the first leg. Not long after that ends, Marcus Tracy and Aalborg BK move a scoreless tie to Slavija Sarajevo. About an hour after that match begins, Johann Smith and NK Rijeka will try to overtrun a 1-0 first leg deficit at home to Luxembourg's Differdange. I'd expect all will see playing time, with Guy seemingly certain to start.
And lest we forget, technical director Earnie Stewart's NAC Breda wll head to Armenian side Gandzasar, presumably to finish off a 6-0 aggregate lead.
Meanwhile in Champions League qualifying play, Mikkel Diskerud watched from the bench on Wednesday night as Stabæk set up a third round tie against Danish champs FC Copenhagen with a 4-0 win at Tirana to complete a 5-1 aggregate victory.
I will update this post throughout your morning with scores and goals and American involvements.
--
12.06 PM CT - With Guy in the line-up, St. Pat's are scoreless at Valletta in the 34th minute. Meanwhile, NAC grabbed a pair of early goals to lead 8-0 on aggregate.
12.24 PM - Both St. Pat's and NAC have reached intermission, scores the same.
1.00 PM - St. Pat's are still locked in a scoreless game at Valletta in the 70th minute, meaning they still need one to avoid going out on the away goals rule. Also, in about 30 minutes, we find out if Tracy gets another Euro-start for Aalborg.
1.07 PM - With 10 minutes of regulation remaining, St. Pat's are down to 10 men. The sub Ryan is sent off five minutes after coming on.
1.12 PM - And in the 84th minute, O'Brien has given St. Pat's a 1-0 lead (2-1 aggregate) with 10 men!
1.17 PM - The clock is now enemy of Valletta as we enter stoppage time in Malta.
1.22 PM - NAC are through (8-0 aggregate) to face Polonia Warsaw for a place in the tourney proper. Nearly over in Malta...
1.25 PM - It's all over at Valletta, with St. Pat's moving on (2-1 aggregate) to face Russian side Krylia Sovetov, who are fronted by former Czech ace Jan Koller.
For AaB's contest, Tracy is on the sub's bench.
3.16 PM - Aalborg are trailing 1-0 at halftime. Rijeka have just kicked off, with Smith on the sub's bench.
3.46 PM - Ceric and Sharbini have scored four minutes apart to put Rijeka up 2-0. In Sarajevo, Slavija opened the second half with a goal, but Johansson quickly pulled one back for AaB to make it a 2-1 deficit. Tracy has entered in the 73rd minute, with his side needing a goal to grab the tie lead.
3.51 PM - Rijeka head to the clubhouse with a two-goal lead as Aalborg are down to their final seven minutes of regulation.
4.04 PM - Aalborg are ousted by Slavija 3-1 (3-1).
5.12 PM - Rijeka advanced to face Ukrainian outfit Metalist Kharkiv with a 3-0 win (3-1), Smith playing the final five minutes.
- Greg Seltzer
Posts
0 comments:
Post a Comment