Iż-żewġ timijiet li lagħbu barra minn darna, Gzira United u Floriana kellhom fortune differenti hekk kif il-Maroons għaddew għar-round li jmiss meta għelbu lil Atletic Club D’Escaldes ta’ Andorra bl-iskor ta’ 1-0 bil-goal jasal minn Jackson Mendonza fil-ħin barranin, eżattament fil-105 minuti, biex għaddew b’aggregate ta’ 2-1.
Il-formazzjonijiet kienu hekk:
D’Escaldes: 13-Alex Ruiz, 3-Aleix Cistero, 4-Alex Sanchez, 5-Hamza Bouhrama (20-Xavi Puerto 62), 7-Guilluame Lopez, 15-Victor Maffeo, 16-Alex Martinez (11-Jorge Bolivar 61), 19-Ivan Garrido (27-David Lopez 89), 21-Javier Morales (12-Eric Ruiz 73), 22-Victor Perez, 26-Victo Alonso (10-Gemelson 88) – Coach: Federico Bessone
Gzira U.: 30-Darijan Radelic Zarkov, 3-Gabriel Bohrer Mentz, 6-Nikolai Muscat, 8-Zachary Scerri (47-Brooklyn Borg 90), 9-Marcelo Dias, 16-Luis Riascos, 22-Toni Kolega, 44-Marko Cosic, 94-Jefferson De Assis, 91-Maxuell Maia (17-Clive Gauci 90), 98-Jackson Mendoza 23-Ricardo Correa 46) – Coach: Darren Abdilla
Referee: Vitaliy Romanov (Ukrajna)
Assistenti: Viktor Matyash, Sergii Prystupa (Ukrajna)
Raba’ Uffiċjal: Anatoliy Abdula (Ukrajna)
Skorer: J. De Assis 105 (GU)
Ammoniti: J. Mendoza, M. Dias, L. Riascos, B. Mentz, M. Cosic (GU); G. Lopez, J. Morales, V. Maffeo, A. Cistero (E)
Min-naħa ta’ Floriana, dawn lagħbu kontra Petrocub Hincesti tal-Moldova u sfaw megħluba bl-iskor ta’ 1-0 għal aggregate ta’ 1-0.
L-uniku goal tal-partita wasal fis-26 minuta, Petrocub fetħu l-iskor meta Victor Bogaciuc xeħet lejn Constantin Sandu fuq ix-xellug li minn pożizzjoni angolata ttanta xortih b’xutt bid-dawra bil-goalkeeper Georgi Kitanov isalva b’mod parzjali bil-ballun jasal f’saqajn Iaser Turcan li minn tarf il-kaxxa żgħira xeħet fix-xibka.
Wara dan il-goal, Floriana ppruvaw jagħmlu reazzjoni iżda kien Kitanov li salva tentattivi perikolużi fuq Marius Iosipoi u Sandu. Il-Greens irreċiprokaw b’xuttijiet ta’ Kemar Reid, Oualid El Hasni u James Scicluna li kollha fallew il-mira.
Fit-tieni taqsima, Floriana ppruvaw jippressaw għall-goal tad-draw iżda ma setgħux isibu t-triq lejn il-lasti avversarji biex l-iskor baqa’ ma nbidilx.
Il-formazzjonijiet kienu hekk:
Petrocub: 29-Cristian Avram, 4-Victor Mudrac, 8-Iaser Turcan (13-Artem Federov 92), 9-Vladimir Ambros (94-Corneliu Cotogoi 74), 11-Sergiu Platica, 17-Victor Bogaciuc, 73-Ioan- Calin Revenco, 90-Ion Jardan, 93-Constantin Sandu, 97-Marius Iosipoi (21-Maxim Potirniche 92), 98-Maxim Cojocaru (10-Alexandru Bejan 83) – Coach: Alexei Savinov
Floriana: 33-Georgi Kitanov, 3-Christian Rutjens, 4-Oualid El Hasni, 8-Kemar Reid, 10-Ulisses Arias (21-Carlo Zammit Lonardelli 86), 11-James Scicluna (9-Andrei Ciolacu 46), 20-Matias Garcia (Matthia Veslji 67), 25-Lorenzo Trillo (2-Adam Magri Overend 67), 77-Aleandro Garzia (16-Augusto Caseres 80), 28-Emiliano Callegari, 30-Jan Busuttil – Coach: Gianluca Atzori
Referee: Artyom Kuchin (Kazakhstan)
Assistenti: Yuriy Tikhonyuk, Samat Tergeussizov (Kazakhstan)
Raba’ Uffiċjal: Aidyn Tassybayev (Kazakhstan)
Skorers: I. Turcan 26 (F)
Ammoniti: V. Bogaciuc, S. Platica (P); C. Rutjens (F)
