Marsaxlokk held FK Partizani Tirana of Albania in a 1-1 draw in the first leg of the first qualifying round of the UEFA Conference League at the Elbasan Arena in Elbasan.
This result leaves the battle for a place in the second qualifying round of the competition wide open and where FC Iberia 1999 Tbilisi of Georgia await the winner. The second leg will be played at the Centenary Stadium on Thursday.
Coach Winston Muscat handed Jefferson de Jesus Santos, Lucas Emmanuel Lopez Dessypris, Alex De Aguiar Gomes and Patrick Carvalho Nonato a start while Guttiner Heider Fernando Costa Tenorio and Igor Leandro Goularte Do Nascimento were included as substitutes.
Things seemed to be going in the wrong direction for Marsaxlokk as they conceded a goal after just two minutes when captain Valentin Murataj beat goalkeeper Marko Drobnjak with a shot from inside the area.
However the talismanic Yuri Messias equalized for Marsaxlokk on the 15th minute with a fine shot from the edge of the area.
PARTIZANI Pano Qirko, Altin Bytyqi, Gueye Maguette, Valentino Murataj (82’ Adnard Mehmeti), Tedi Cara (74’ Archange Bintsouka), Marcelino Preka, Paulo Buxhelaj (82’ Vangjel Zguro), Oresti Rifa (62’ Agim Zeka), Andi Hadroj, Christian Mba (62’ Rodrigo Piloto), Arinaldo Rrapaj.
MARSAXLOKK Marko Drobnjak, Jefferson, Karl Micallef, Nikolai Muscat, Patrick Nonato (74’ Igor Goularte), Yuri Messias (90’ Guttiner), Lucas Lopez, Alex Tanque, Leandro Aguirre, Nikola Raden, Ryan Sciclluna.
Referee: Roman Jitari MDA
Assistant Referees: Vlad Lifciu, Andrei Bodean MDA
Fourth Official: Igor Bosca MDA
