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The second appearance of Panevezys "Ekranas" in the strongest European club tournament ended just like the first two - 13 years ago, when the current Lithuanian champions lost to Maltese clubs with a minimal advantage, they had to acknowledge the superiority of the strongest team in this country, "Elbasani", in Albania with a score of 0-1.
Elbasani Ruzhdi Bizhuta stadium
Referee - Bernardino González Vázquez (Spain)
"Elbasani" 1 - 0
75' [1 - 0] Gentjan Stojku
"Elbasani": Kotorri; Brahja, Dede, Vrapi, Abraham; Kaci (59' Xhafaj), Osja, Capja (70' Stojku), Qorri; Bylykbashi, K.Dalipi (74' Nora)
"Ekranas": Skrupskis; Skroblas, Banevičius, Klimavičius, Paulauskas; Mihalčuks (89' Saulenas), Kučys (82' Gardzijauskas), Savėnas, Tomkevičius; Kavaliauskas (61' Šlekys) Lukšys
Although the hosts played better in the first half, they failed to score against "Ekranas" - opportunities were not used by Klevisas Dalipi, Dorian Bylykbashi, and Iliris Qorri. However, victory for the Albanians was decided in the last fifteen minutes of the match by two players who appeared after substitution on the field - after a pass from Daniel Xhafaj, the veteran of the team Gentjan Stojku scored the winning goal with a header.
The match ended like this, with "Elbasani" gaining a minimal advantage against "Ekranas". The second leg of the first qualifying round will be played in a week, on July 18th in Panevezys.
Other first round results:
"Birkirkara" (Malta) 0 - 3 Tórshavn "B36" (Faroe Islands)
Tallinn "TVMK" (Estonia) 2 - 3 "Hafnarfjördur" (Iceland)
Yerevan "Pyunik" (Armenia) 0 - 0 Tiraspol "Sheriff" (Moldova)
Bolnisi "Sioni" (Georgia) 2 - 0 "Baku" (Azerbaijan)
"Dudelange" (Luxembourg) 0 - 1 Skopje "Rabotnicki" (Macedonia)
Belfast "Linfield" (Northern Ireland) 1 - 3 Nova Gorica "Gorica" (Slovenia)
