Sheriff defeated by BATE 0-1
Moldova's champions Sheriff Tiraspol lost on Thursday, October 21, the second game in the Europa League group stage, being defeated on their own pitch by BATE Borisov, 0-1, Info-Prim Neo reports.
Tiraspol started in high gear and already on 3rd minutes were close to take the lead when Amath Diedhiou earned a clear run on goal only to shoot well over. The Belarussians however were more precise on their first opportunity, when Sergei Sosnovski took advantage of a corner to head the ball straight into the net.
Sheriff immediately regained domination over the game, escalating pressure at the opponent goal. At least three Sheriff players, Alexandr Erokhin, Benjamin Balima and Edgars Gauracs, were close to an equalizer in the first half.
The Moldovan champions dominated the second half as well, but again had little luck with getting the ball into the net. Sheriff's Serbian players Vladimir Volkov and Vladimir Brankovic each managed to beat the Belarussian defense only to hit the posts.
At the post-game news conference, BATE manager Viktor Goncharenko admitted his side had a lucky win. “We are pleased with the result. Sheriff put huge pressure at our goal and I have to admit that they had more scoring opportunities”.
Sheriff manager Andrei Sosnitski didn't hide his disappointment about the outcome. “Finishing off scoring opportunities is one problem that we have. The same thing happens in the premiership as well. If you don't score, you don't have results”.
Elsewhere in Group E, Dynamo Kyiv lost the away match against AZ Alkmaar, 2-1. The results changed the situation on the table: BATE are in the lead with 7 points, followed by Dynamo with 4 points; AZ and Sheriff share the 3rd and 4th places with 3 points.
In the next round on November 4, Sheriff will travel to Borisov and Dynamo will meet AZ Alkmaar.