Not an ideal start for Dundalk they trail the visitors 1-0 after a corner kick leads to the opening goal of the game. Live now on eir Sport 1! #LOIinEurope pic.twitter.com/4SIC3gg6vp — eir Sport (@eirSport) July 24, 2019 The visitors - who competed in the group stages of the Champions League two years ago - dominated proceedings in the first half, and nearly doubled their advantage in just the sixth minute, with Simeon Slavchev heading wide after being picked out by Mahir Emreli. Abdellah Zoubir caused Dundalk all sorts of problems, and almost got on the scoresheet on the half hour mark. The tricky winger breezed past Sean Gannon and Andy Boyle before firing just wide. To make matters worse, the Lilywhites lost Robbie Benson to a rib injury after just 27 minutes, with Sean Murray replacing the midfielder. Rogers made two excellent saves to deny Slavchev and Zoubir respectively as the half wore on, with Vinny Perth's hosts struggling to get to grips with the quality of the opposition.
Gary Rogers to the rescue. Dundalk trail by a single goal. Live now on eir Sport 1! #LOIinEurope pic.twitter.com/kY5RWTqcFg — eir Sport (@eirSport) July 24, 2019 Perth will have been glad to get his players into the dressing room just one goal down at the interval given Qarabag's dominance and early goal, and Dundalk were much improved in the second half. Patrick McEleney fired over as Dundalk began to put pressure on the experienced visitors, but Qarabag almost scored a second goal in the 57th minute. Zoubir played Romero through but the midfielder skied his effort after Boyle was caught in possession. Romero then stung Rogers' palms with a long-range effort, with Richard Almeida putting the rebound over the bar. Dundalk got their all-important equalizer 12 minutes from time. Rahil Mammadov recovered well to block a Jamie McGrath effort at the expense of a corner. Murray's resulting corner eventually fell to Hoban, who nodded past Vagner to score his first Champions League goal.
78' GOAL DUNDALK There it is! Goal for Dundalk, Pat Hoban eventually heads the ball over the line from a corner kick. The sides are now level at 1-1.Live now on eir Sport 1! #LOIinEurope pic.twitter.com/rQYQcePam4 — eir Sport (@eirSport) July 24, 2019 With Oriel Park rocking, and Qarabag on the back foot, Dundalk had several opportunities to take the lead. McGrath forced Vagner into a save under pressure from a Gannon cut-back, Duffy flashed a shot wide, and Massey fired a great chance over the bar in stoppage time.
90' + 2 chance. Another chance this time for Dundalk a long free kick into the penalty area and Dundalk nearly took the lead with Dane Massey at the end of a knock down.Live now on eir Sport 1! #LOIinEurope pic.twitter.com/3wxEs2hAYK — eir Sport (@eirSport) July 24, 2019 Dundalk: Gary Rogers; Sean Gannon, Sean Hoare, Andy Boyle, Dane Massey; Chris Shields, Robbie Benson (Sean Murray 27); Jamie McGrath, Patrick McEleney. (John Mountney 69), Michael Duffyl Patrick Hoban (Georgie Kelly 83). Qarabag: Vagner; Maksim Medvedev (Abbas Huseynov 53), Rashad Sadygov, Rahil Mammadov, Ailton; Simeon Slavchev, Gara Garayev; Jaime Romero (Araz Abdullayev 87), Richard Almeida, Abdellah Zoubir; Mahir Emreli.