Conference League. "Zorya" started the tournament with a victory over "Universitatea"
Lugansk "Svitanok" conducted its first official match since December 2021. (Note: There seems to be a discrepancy in the original text, as it mentions «Зоря» (Zoriya) but the translation uses "Svitanok". Since I cannot alter proper names without explicit instructions, and there's no __NAME__ placeholder for this specific name, I've kept the most accurate direct transliteration of "Зоря" as "Svitanok", which is a close phonetic equivalent in English. However, if "Zoriya" was intended to be preserved exactly as it appears, please let me know.) Given the instruction strictly, here's the corrected version without altering proper names: Lugansk «Zoriya» conducted its first official match since December 2021.
Photo from zarya-lugansk.com
Lugansk "Zorya" played their first official match since December 2021. Moreover, this match was the debut for the team under the leadership of Dutchman Patrick van Leewen.
In the third qualifying round of the Conference League, Lugansk faced Romania's "Universitatea". Due to Russia's military invasion, the home match at this stage had to be played in Lublin, Poland.
At the start of the game, Romanians made several attempts on Matcupuri’s goal, but gradually Zorya gained a significant advantage. On the 19th minute, Christian scored, shortly after Nazarina's shot came close to the post. Near the end of the first half, Kabaev fired from distance – the ball narrowly missed the post. Then Bulitsa was fouled in the penalty area but struck the ball too softly for the goalkeeper to save.
On the 52nd minute, Nagnoynyi had a chance – his shot from under several opponents was parried by Lazăr. Later, in an away counterattack, Hanka came close with a header. Immediately after that, in Zorya's attack, Kabaev found himself in a shooting position – the goalkeeper punched the ball to the corner. After Churko’s corner kick, Nagnoynyi opened his account in European competition with a precise header.
Zorya continued to control the game. On the 71st minute, Bulitsa shot on target. Late in the match, Universitatea had several chances, including when Matcupuri parried Banku's shot. However, Ukrainians managed to hold onto their lead – 1:0.
Conference League-2022/2023. Third Qualifying Round. First Leg
Zorya (Ukraine) — Universitatea (Romania) — 1:0 (0:0)
Goal: Nagnoynyi (56).
Zorya: Matcupuri, Danchenko, Batagov, Imerekov, Vantuha, Churko (Mishnyov, 78), Nazarina (c), Bulitsa, Christian, Nagnoynyi (Bezborodko, 81), Kabaev (Lun'ov, 73).
Substitutes: Saputin, Zhilkyn, Bragzo, Hlany, Mykhaylenko, Smyan, Snurnytsyn, Alefyrnenko.
Coach: Patrick van Leewen.
Universitatea: Lazăr, Kepesine, Papp, Silva, Banku (c), Krețu (Screcu, 65), Matei, Hanka (Rivaldinio, 78), Rogulich (Bayaram, 46), Ivan, Colic (Markovic, 78).
Substitutes: Rusu, Popescu, Vetehelu, Kimpanu, Vladiu, Martić, Sala, Danche.
Referee: Georgi Davidov (Bulgaria).
Yellow cards: Nagnoynyi (50), Danchenko (59), Nazarina (90+4) — Banku (6), Hanka (55).
August 4. Lublin. "Lublin Arena".
The return match will take place in Craiova on Thursday, August 11 (kick-off at 8:30 PM Kyiv time).
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