Kairat beat Omonia to advance in Champions League qualifying
Almaty’s Kairat FC advanced to the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League after defeating Cyprus’ Omonia 6-5 in a penalty shootout following a 1-0 victory in the second leg, Qazinform News Agency reports.
Brazilian forward Edmilson scored the only goal of the match in the 37th minute, leveling the aggregate score at 1-1 after Kairat’s 1-0 defeat in the first leg.
Omonia played most of the game with 10 men after Andronikos Kakoullis was sent off in the first half and were reduced to nine players in extra time when Senou Coulibaly received a second yellow card.
Since neither team could break the deadlock in extra time, the match proceeded to penalties. Kairat kept their composure and won 6-5, earning a spot in the third qualifying round of Europe’s premier club tournament.
Earlier, Qazinform News Agency reported that Almaty football club Kairat had earned 350,000 euros after advancing to the UEFA Champions League’s second qualifying round.