Europa League Qualifiers: NK Rijeka Tops Aberdeen 2:0 in First Leg

August 8, 2019 – NK Rijeka opened their Europa League season in the 3rd round of the qualifiers against Scottish club Aberdeen on Thursday at Rujevica stadium. Commentators said around 6,500 spectators were in attendance.

Gol.hr reports that NK Rijeka missed a handful of critical opportunities in the first half, which ended without goals for either club. Rijeka, however, was given their golden chance to take the lead in the 62nd minute after Logan unnecessarily pulled Capan down in the penalty area, which the referee immediately whistled for a pen. Čolak fiercely shot down the middle as goalkeeper Lewis chose to move to the left. Rijeka took the 1:0 lead. 

At the very end of the duel, in the 88th minute, Halilović found the foot of Murić who nailed the bottom right corner from 18-meters out. Lewis was powerless in goal, and Rijeka led 2:0 for the final score of the game. 

“I am proud of my players and if it were 0:0 I would be pleased, let alone with 2:0. Everything we spoke about was fulfilled, and we were even physically equal. We have a nice advantage and Aberdeen will surely play differently in the return match. But if we play like we did tonight, then we will definitely pass,” said NK Rijeka coach Igor Bišćan.

Recall, the Scottish club was never a fond memory for Rijeka fans. Four years ago, they eliminated Rijeka in the Europa League qualifying round at Kantrida in a 3:0 blowout. 

The return match will be played at Pittodrie Stadium in Aberdeen, Scotland in one week. If Rijeka advances, they will play the winner of the duel between AEK Larnaca and Ghent.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

 

Subscribe to our newsletter

the fields marked with * are required

Email: *
First name:
Last name:
Gender:	Male Female
Country:
Birthday:	[DD] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 [MM] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 [YYYY] 1924 1925 1926 1927 1928 1929 1930 1931 1932 1933 1934 1935 1936 1937 1938 1939 1940 1941 1942 1943 1944 1945 1946 1947 1948 1949 1950 1951 1952 1953 1954 1955 1956 1957 1958 1959 1960 1961 1962 1963 1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023

Please don't insert text in the box below!