Nigeria’s Iyayi Atiemwen and Shehu Abdullahi were on duty as Cypriot side Omonia beat Flora Tallinn to reach the final stage of Europa League qualification
After securing a 1-0 win in the first leg at the Neo GSP Stadium, Omonia knew that they had their work cut out for them when they travelled to Estonia to play the second leg.
Shehu started the game from the right-back position, and he helped his team withstand the pressure that came from the Estonia side.
The 43rd minute was the moment of magic for the Omonia side as a well-weighted pass from Loizos Loizou was collected by Andronikos Kakoullis, who promptly slotted behind Matvei Igonen.
The Queens saw off all advances from Flora Tallinn in the first half and maintained an almost even share of the possession at the end of the first half.
The second-hand was a different ball game as the home side were more decisive. It took them three minutes to restore parity as Micheal Lilander found Rauno Sapinnen, who calmly beat Fabiano in goal.
The game became an end to end stuff after the goal as Flora registered four shots on goal while Omonia recorded two.
Not only was there attacking intensity but the tackles and fouls also became more intense. And it was no surprise that referee, Kuzliak showed nine yellow cards in the second half alone, with Flora picking five of those.
It looked like Omonia were running away with the tie, but Rauno Sappinen had a say as he picked up a loose ball and fired home in the 88th minute to force extra time.
Extra time did not lack any of the feistiness that regular time showed as four yellow cards were flashed again, with Flora picking three.
The card flashing affair got to a climax when Marten Kuusk got red-carded after a second bookable offence in the final minute of extra time.
In what appeared like a penalty substitution, Shehu was sacrificed for Atiemwen just before the end of extra time. And the decision did pay for coach Berg as the Nigerian firmly dispatched his spot-kick.
After five penalties had been taken with a 4-4 score, it went into sudden death, and the Queens emerged winners.
Omonia will now face Antwerp in the final round of qualifiers.
This post was last modified on August 11, 2021 10:36 am