Vaduz 2
St Patrick’s Athletic 2
(St Pat’s advance 5-3 on aggregate)
GOALS FROM Zach Elbouzedi and Romal Palmer were crucial as St Patrick’s Athletic secured a 2-2 draw away to Vaduz in tonight’s Uefa Conference League second-round clash.
Vaduz twice went ahead on either side of half-time with Fabrizio Cavegn registering a brace but the Saints responded promptly on both occasions.
Stephen Kenny’s side had to defend well and survived occasional scares, but looked the better side over the two legs and are worthy of their place in the next round.
Pat’s were in control of the tie after the first leg — Jake Mulraney starred in their 3-1 win against the Liechtenstein side at Richmond Park last week.
Kenny will have gone into the fixture knowing a European run was key to boosting morale within the squad, given that it has been a disappointing season for the Saints domestically.
Their FAI Cup defence ended with a whimper as they were beaten 3-0 by Derry City, while their current position of seventh in the table underlines an inconsistent league campaign.
The Saints were unchanged from last week’s first-leg win. Meanwhile, there were three alterations to Vaduz’s starting XI — Benjamin Buchel, Mats Hammerich and Alessandro Kräuchi were replaced by Leon Schaffran, Javier Navarro and Sandro Wieser.
The Dublin side looked pretty comfortable for much of the early stages but gave away a cheap penalty in the 20th minute.
Axel Sjoberg made a needless late tackle on Lori Emini, who went down inside the congested area.
Cavegn stepped up and Joseph Anang dived left to get a hand to his spot kick but couldn’t keep it out.
Vaduz could have scored again shortly after that. Javier Navarro latched on to a through ball and got in behind the Pat’s defence and his finish had Anang beaten but came back off the post.
Yet with the hosts looking threatening, Pat’s equalised against the run of play.
As in the first leg, Mulraney was pivotal. He squared a low ball across the area and recent signing Zach Elbouzedi planted the ball perfectly into the top corner.
The equaliser to make it 1-1. Our 2024 goals are sponsored by @kavanaghspubd8 pic.twitter.com/rmkY54iYo1
— St Patrick's Athletic FC (@stpatsfc) August 1, 2024
The former Ireland U21 player’s goal upset the hosts’ momentum as they scarcely threatened for the remainder of the half.
One half-chance came their way on the brink of the break. Mischa Beeli’s deep cross was met by Dominik Schwizer, whose low volley was well saved by Anang.
The Premier Division outfit were dealt a blow early in the second half — playmaker Chris Forrester took a knock and had to be replaced by Aaron Bolger.
Vaduz were still sporadically threatening — Emini curled a free kick a few inches over the bar and Cavegn tested Anang with a powerful strike as Marc Schneider’s men searched for a goal to reduce the aggregate deficit.
On 75 minutes, Pat’s were made to sweat as the hosts went ahead again. Cavegn scored his second of the night. The attacker’s low shot deflected off a Pat’s player and found the bottom of the net.
Yet the Irish side again produced a quick response to going behind.
Kian Leavy’s persistence was rewarded as he ran with the ball across the box, finding Palmer, whose low, clinical first-time effort found the corner of the net.
That second equaliser killed the game as a contest.
There was one final Vaduz chance — substitute Jonathan De Donno’s header hit the bar in stoppage time — but otherwise Pat’s saw out the final stages with ease to deservedly progress.
In the next round, Pat’s will face Sabah of Azerbaijan after they defeated Israel’s Maccabi Haifa on 3-2 penalties this evening after a 6-3 loss.
St Patricks Athletic: 94. Joseph Anang 21. Axel Sjoberg 4. Joe Redmond 5. Tom Grivosti 3. Anto Breslin 8. Chris Forrester (Aaron Bolger 50) 6. Jamie Lennon 26. Zach Elbouzedi (Al-Amin Kazeem 63) 17. Romal Palmer (Jason McClelland 85) 20. Jake Mulraney (Kian Leavy 63) 9. Mason Melia (Cian Kavanagh 85)
FC Vaduz: 25. Leon Schaffran 14. Mischa Beeli 6. Denis Simani 5. Lindon Berisha, 4. Nicolas Hasler 10. Lorik Emini 8. Sandro Wieser 11. Danilo Del Toro 23. Fabrizio Cavegn 7. Dominik Schwizer 19. Javier Navarro (Jonathan De Donno 67)
Referee: Ashot Ghaltakchyan (Armenia)
Attendance: 1,405
Great result for pats and Irish football
Well done Pats. A badly boost for LOI after Derry embarrassing loss to a side from Gibraltar
Well done to St Pat’s and Stephen Kenny. Great to see an LOI team advance in Europe.
Up the SuperSaints! Brilliant away performance. Bring on the 3rd round next week!
Brilliant! Great result!
Drawing with a club from Litchenstein is still embarrassing , the league seems to have taken a backward step in Europe the last few season as we struggle to get results against clubs from tier 6 UEFA nations
@Owen ODonoghue: down thumb.
They won the first leg convincingly and did what they needed to do tonight. Nothing embarrassing about that.
@Donal: yeah unpopular I know but we need to expect more – we have a huge playing population compared to them and our European qualified teams are largely professional now
@Owen ODonoghue: people seem to lack a key bit of knowledge when it comes to playing population and that’s the pull of players they have from countries around them! Many people who know the game had spoke all week about how they’re a very tough team to travel to! Great result by Pats overall. On another topic.. the grass roots coaching and facilities in this country is nowhere near most of europe!
@Owen ODonoghue: Another clueless comment from the ‘pub garden of expectation’ and ‘I know a thing or two!’ You do realise Vaduz FC are a professional football team, ply their club football in Switzerland, and their first team is mostly made up of foreign players abroad (you know, a bit like Man Utd, Man City, Liverpool, Arsenal et all) not native Liechtenstein players? And that they have previously qualified for the Europa Conference League group stage? Ireland and Liechtenstein as national club co-efficient are 33rd and 44th, not exactly a gulf of difference there! The very fact you’ve confused club football and UEFA nations rankings says a lot about the nursery playpen you opine from.
@Mick Rooney:
@Comments Section Closed: I think that was someone else , didn’t comment on pats before
@Mick Rooney: I’ve been watching LOi for about 30 years and I’m old enough to remember when Irish teams would put it up to the likes of Bayern, Kaiserslautern, Deportivo etc
We have seen huge regression in the last few years and now struggle to beat teams from small nations . Anyway I’m sure it’s all grand etc and nothing to worry about as the league continues to fall behind
@Comments Section Closed: yes and Vaduz deserved to win the game – they had the better chances too