Dynamo Kiev beat Fenerbahce Istanbul in the Champions League qualifiers and will now face Sturm Graz. FC Zurich narrowly failed to qualify.
The Ukrainian record champions prevailed 2-1 (1:1, 0:0) after extra time in their second-round second leg at Fenerbahce Istanbul on Wednesday night. The narrow away win was enough to reach the third qualifying round after a 0-0 draw in the first leg. Kiev will meet Sturm Graz in the third qualifying round.
Vitaliy Buyalskyi (57th) and Oleksandr Karavaev (114th) scored for Kiev. Attila Szalai (89th) scored the interim equaliser for Fenerbahce shortly before the end of normal time, who played for a long time in a reduced number of players after Ismail Yüksek (53rd) was shown a yellow card.
However, the match was overshadowed by improper behaviour by home supporters. After Buyalskyi scored the 1:0 and celebrated exuberantly, there were clearly audible shouts of “Vladimir Putin” from the stands.
Kiev’s coach later called the incident “regrettable” to the newspaper “Fanatik” and did not attend the press conference in protest. Many Fenerbahce fans also expressed their incomprehension of the shouts on social media. There were no official statements from UEFA or Fenerbahce in the evening. The Dynamo professionals did not allow themselves to be provoked on the pitch and celebrated their passage to the next round in the end.
Dynamo had played the first match in Lodz, Poland (0:0) because of the uncertain situation around Kiev in view of the Russian war of aggression. Since the start of the war and the cancellation of the league, Kiev had kept fit with test and charity matches – such as the one at Borussia Dortmund in April.
Next setback for Foda and Zurich
German coach Franco Foda and Breitenreiter’s successor failed with his new club FC Zürich. The Swiss champions did not get beyond a 2:2 after extra time in the second leg against Qarabag Agdam from Azerbaijan. Ex-Freiburg player Ivan Santini had saved the Swiss with an interim 2-1 in extra time (90.+5), but Owusu Kwabena scored for the visitors (98th), who had won the first leg 3-2.
Foda resigned as Austria’s national coach after failing to qualify for the World Cup. He is still waiting for his team’s first win in a competitive match.
