It was not easy but Rabotnicki recorded a dramatic result to get past Anorthosis thanks to a late goal by veteran defender Pance Kumbev.

The game started very tense as most of the action was happening on the Rabotnicki half of the field.  The first half was mostly uneventful although the visitors had the better chances.  The first good chance fell for Serbian Nemanja Vučićević in the 16th minute but his shot hit the post.  The first half ended goalless at 0:0 as Rabotnicki played disciplined football and the Cypriot side could not break down the determined Rabotnicki defense.

Anorthosis opened the second half lively and their early pressure paid off with new signing Jan Rezek scoring in the 50th minute to give his side the narrow lead.  Five minutes later, Rabotnicki created their first real opportunity of the game and captain Borce Manevski should have scored on the great chance but his finishing was poor and he squandered a big opportunity.  Anorthosis punished the Macedonian club and scored their second goal in the 65th minute through Cristovão.  Things were looking bleak now for Rabotnicki as the visitors were threatening and seemed set to come back from a 0:2 first leg deficit for the second consecutive year.  Young goalkeeper Stole Dimitrievski came up big in the 79th minute when he saved a header from substitute striker Emil Angelov.

After Rabotnicki went down 2:0, the manager of the Macedonian club made some gutsy substitutions by making all three changes in a six minute stretch between the 70th and 76th minute.  When it seemed that the game would go to extra time, veteran defender Pance Kumbev scored on a powerful header in the 87th minute following a well taken corner kick from Krste Velkoski.  The minutes after the goal were grueling as every passing minute went slowly.  The Bulgarian referee angered the fans in the stands when he showed six minutes of stoppage time.  During the stoppage time, Rabotnicki should have scored another goal but Baze Todorovski missed from a good position as he had a clear target since Anorthosis’ keeper was in Rabotnicki’s half.  The time went slowly but eventually the six minutes expired and the Bulgarian referee blew the final whistle which meant Rabotnicki advanced to the play-off round of the Europa League.

This is a great accomplishment for Macedonian football.  Rabotnicki played with tremendous heart over the two games and they made all of Macedonia proud.  They will learn their next opponents tomorrow in the draw that will be held at UEFA headquarters at around 13.00 CET and if Rabotnicki advances one more round, they will reach the group stages of the Europa League.

Highlights of the game:

National Arena Philip II of Macedon in Skopje, Macedonia
Referee: Nikolay Yordanov (Bulgaria)
Scorers: Kumbev 87′ (R); Rezek 50′, Cristovão 65′ (A).
Red cards: None
Yellow cards: Petrovik 24′, Kumbev 60′, Dimitrievski 61′, Manevski 90′ (R); Laborde 19′, Cristovão 50′ (A).
Rabotnicki: Dimitrievski; Todorovski, Bogdanovik (73′ Petkovski), Kumbev, Lazarevski; Petrovik, Velkovski (70′ Micevski), Vujčić, Nastevski (76′ Gligorov); Velkoski, Manevski (c). Manager: Goran Petreski
Anorthosis: Ivankov; Janício, Andić, Colin, Sprockel; Laban, Okkas (c), Vučićević (57′ Marquinhos); Cristovão, Laborde (72′ Angelov), Rezek (89′ Michael). Manager: Stanimir Stoilov