BOTH St Patrick’s Athletic and Shamrock Rovers will have high hopes of progressing to the play-off rounds of their respective competitions going into the second legs of their ties.
St Pat’s will be aware that this is the last chance saloon for them as they look to uphold the 1-0 aggregate lead they have over Azerbaijan champions Sabah as they travel to Masazır.
If the Saints lose by two or more goals then they can kiss European football goodbye for at least another season, with the winner going through to the final Europa Conference League play-off round for spots in the reformatted competition.
St Pats overcame Sabah after midfielder Romal Palmer scored Stephen Kelly’s side’s only goal at Tallaght Stadium in the first leg after 35 minutes.
The Saints kept plugging for a second and things were looking better for them after Ivan Lepinjica was sent off for getting two yellow cards but the Inchicore-based club could not double their advantage but the performance looked encouraging
Shamrock Rovers will feel slightly less at ease in their match-up as they host current Slovenian champions Celje, looking to overturn the 1-0 advantage the visitors have going into this second leg.
Luka Menalo’s well-taken shot across goal gave Celje the lead after 30 minutes and Shamrock Rovers pushed to find an equaliser but struggled to make real chances and survived a late flurry of attacks from Celje to keep the deficit at one goal.
However, Shamrock Rovers go into this game with the cushion of being guaranteed one more shot at European football as if they lose this tie, then they will be entered into the Europa Conference League play-off draw and will play for a place in Europe’s third-tier football competition.
