Sliema hold FC Noah, bow out of Europe

SLIEMA WANDERERS   0

FC NOAH                             0

SLIEMA WANDERERS

K. Agu; G. Alcino, M. Henrique, J. Borg, A. Magri Overend (74 C. Attard), S. Zibo, M. Beerman, S. Pisani, G. Acheampong, V. Plut (74 S. Ohawuchi), S, Gomes (63 M. Awad).

FC NOAH

A. Ploshchadnyi; H. Hambartsumyan. G. Silva, S. Muradian, G. Thorarinsson (73 M. Pedro), E. Cinari (65 A. Miljkovic), G. Sangare (57 I. Omar), M. Gambos (57 A. Avanesyan), H. Ferreira, M. Arias, G. Gregorio (65 G. Petrsoyan).

Referee Robert Ian Jenkins (Wales FA).

Yellow cards Acheampong, Murilo Henrique.

Sliema Wanderers bowed out from European football after an encouraging display against Armenia’s FC Noah, on Thursday.

After last week’s shambolic 7-0 defeat in the first leg, progressing into the third qualifying round of the Conference League was an impossible task.

However, Sliema were keen to make amends for that disappointing result, staging a solid performance in front of their home fans.

Both teams barely made damage to each other, with the few chances offered being produced mostly in the opening 45 minutes.

For this second leg tie, Paul Zammit made one change with Kelvin Agu, who joined Sliema in September 2023, replacing Josip Bender between the sticks.

FC Noah will now face Greece’s AEK Athens in the next round.

Sliema tried to put FC Noah under pressure from the start, with midfielder Simon Zibo coming close to put the Blues ahead.

First, the former Birkirkara midfielder forced FC Noah’s goalkeeper into action with a fierce strike from the edge of the area before Zibo threatened with a close-range header.

Wingback Adam Magri Overend, another summer signing, tried his luck with a deflected shot that ended straight into FC Noah’s custodian.

The Armenian side, on their part, replied through Erald Cinari whose low freekick was blocked by Agu before Overend blocked a point-blank range effort to prevent Sliema from going eight down on aggregate.

At the restart, chances were at a premium with the two teams rarely threatening while introducing new faces on the field, in bid to spark the game into life.

FC Noah almost snatched a late winner through Artem Avanesyan whose low drive glanced past Agu’s goal.