Sabah stumble against Hapoel but keep qualification hopes alive

Sabah faced Israeli side Hapoel Be’er Sheva in Bucharest, and the match could not have started better for Valdas Dambrauskas’ men. Just six minutes in, an attack by the Azerbaijani club ended with a goal: following Tymoteusz Puchacz’s cross from the left flank, Veljko Simić headed the ball into the net to open the scoring and register his sixth goal in the current Champions League campaign.

It seemed that Sabah would simply “finish off” their opponents after that and turn the return leg in Baku into a mere formality. But those rosy prospects were quickly shattered by the events that followed. While the “Owls” were already imagining such a scenario, Hapoel’s players kept working and struck a goal “on the way to the dressing room,” equalising in the 43rd minute. In the second half, the Israeli side went a step further, dictating the terms of the game, gaining positional superiority and enjoying long spells of possession. The statistics confirm this: Hapoel had 65 percent of the ball compared with Sabah’s 35 percent. They also outshot the Azerbaijani side 17–8.

I do not know what Dambrauskas told his players during the break, but in the second half Sabah had more chances to score than Hapoel. However, the Israeli goalkeeper, Ofir Marciano, proved impossible to beat. And then the old football rule came into play: “if you don’t score, they will.” The “Owls” appeared to tire after numerous attacks on their opponents’ goal, and Hapoel eventually created a goal almost out of nothing. Following a corner-kick routine, Igor Zlatanovic made an excellent header to beat Stas Pokatilov, who had been reliable up to that point.

Overall, this game was painfully reminiscent of Sabah’s previous match against Danish side Aarhus. Poor finishing, wasted scoring opportunities and complacency after taking the lead once again turned a victory that had seemed practically within their grasp into a frustrating defeat. And it cannot be said that the opponents played significantly better, nor that Sabah were intimidated by them. But emotions fade, while the result remains: a 2–1 defeat. Exactly the same scoreline as in the clash with Aarhus, which was followed by a spectacular 4–0 victory in the return leg.

And so, we will wait and see whether Sabah can produce an identical result against the Israelis in the second leg. After all, as we all know, nothing is impossible in football. Isn't that right, gentlemen?

By Vugar Vugarly, specially for Caliber.Az