The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Dons’ European dream ends and Spurs’ begins
ABERDEEN 1 QARABAG 3 AGGREGATE: 1-4
Aberdeen’s hopes of making the Europa Conference League group stage were ended on a disappointing night at Pittodrie as they suffered a 3-1 defeat to Qarabag in the second leg of their qualifying play-off.
Trailing 1-0 from the opening match against the Azerbaijan club, the Dons’ task was made all the more difficult by an early strike from Tural Bayramov.
Kady Borges and Abdellah Zoubir then added further goals to pile on the misery, with a stoppage-time penalty from Lewis Ferguson little more than a consolation as Aberdeen were beaten 4-1 on aggregate.
Missing key players in the shape of injured Andrew Considine, Ryan
Hedges and Connor McLennan, the Dons were soon facing an uphill battle.
A throw on the left was worked into the box for Bayramov, who struck a sweet left-footed strike across Joe Lewis and into the far corner to put the visitors ahead after just eight minutes.
Aberdeen needed to respond quickly but could have been further behind had Abbas Huseynov’s cross been turned in by Borges, who inexplicably missed his kick on the sixyard line.
The second came soon enough though, with Ross McCrorie’s loose pass out from the back putting his side in trouble. Qarabag were on top of the Dons goal in no time and Borges stroked home Zoubir’s pass with ease.
Indeed, Qarabag could have had a third two minutes before the interval as Ramil Sheydaev got between Declan Gallagher and Lewis, but could not lift the ball over the Dons goalkeeper.
Jonny Hayes finally tested keeper Shakhrudin Magomedaliyev from 18 yards after 62 minutes, and although his save was unorthodox, he was able to push the effort wide.
All hope was extinguished 10 minutes later when Zoubir found the net. It was all too simple as he was set clear through the middle, shifting the ball on to his left foot before sending a low drive past Lewis from 15 yards.
With the tie well won, Qarabag seemed to take their foot off the gas and Funso Ojo’s 20-yard strike was not far away from giving the hosts a consolation, fizzing millimetres over the crossbar.
The Dons were handed some late relief from the penalty spot as Calvin
Ramsay went down and Ferguson – after a brief delay while a pitch incursion was dealt with – fired home, but it was too little too late.
TOTTENHAM 3 PACOS DE FERREIRA 0 AGGREGATE:3-1
Harry Kane felt the love of the Tottenham fans again as he enjoyed the perfect return with two goals in a 3-0 win over Pacos de Ferreira which booked a spot in the group stage of the Europa Conference League.
A day after the England captain announced he would be staying at his boyhood club after a coveted move to Manchester City never materialised, he went some way to repairing his relationship with a brace that helped overturn a 1-0 first-leg deficit.
The last time Spurs played at their north London home, fans chanted “Are you watching Harry Kane?”, with the striker not involved in the Premier League opener against City having failed to report to pre-season training on time.
But all was forgiven against the Portuguese outfit as the 30,000-plus crowd let their star striker know that he was still “one of our own”.
Two goals in the opening 35 minutes reminded everyone just why Spurs refused to sell him to City and Giovani Lo Celso’s deflected second-half freekick sealed the game.
Kane moved his tally to 223 goals for the club and, with his short-term future now sorted, he will have eyes on Jimmy Greaves’ record total of 266 – a marker he could conceivably catch this season.