Milsami Orhei is the only Moldovan team that remained in the Europa League. On July 25, the ‘red eagles’, for the first time in the club’s history, qualified for the third preliminary round of the competition after eliminating Shakhtyor Soligorsk of Belarus at home, IPN reports.
The winner of the round was decided in overtime as both of the matches ended in a 1-1 draw. Milsami was more precise and won by a 4-2 score. Young goalkeeper Gheorghe Bantas was the hero of the game as he rejected two penalties after entering the field in the 90th minute, following the sidelining of captain Andrian Negai
“We were lucky in parts, but I’m glad that we eliminated a powerful opponent. It means we played well. This is the team’s merit,” said Milsami coach Stefan Stoica.
“I’m shocked. I cannot explain why we missed so many chances. We played much better than at home,” said Shakhtyor Soligorsk coach Vladimir Juravel.
In the third qualifying round, Milsami will play against Saint-Etienne, which ranked fifth in the last championship of France and which won ten titles of champion. The round matches will take place on August 1 and August 8.
Dacia Chisinau left the Europa League. The ‘yellow wolves’ beat Cernomorets Odessa 2-1 at home in the return match, but this result didn’t earn them qualification. The first-leg match was won by Cernomorets 2-0.
Sheriff Tiraspol achieved the best result in the European Cups among the Moldovan teams. In 2009 and 2010, ‘the black yellows’ played in the Europa League groups.
