Brera Strumica triumphed in the Macedonian U19 Cup after defeating Shkupi in an interesting match that ended with a penalty shootout.

photo by FK AP Brera Strumica: the players celebrate with the trophy

Shkupi were the first to take the lead, from the penalty spot after a clumsy start by Gabriel Taleski in the first minute. Sudejs Chajani converted the penalty kick. The current league champion went for an equalizer, but did so shortly before the break when the excellent action ended with a goal by Matej Sejmenov.

Just two minutes into the second half, Chajani picked up a second yellow card, leaving Shkipi with 10 men. Brera finally managed to take advantage of the playing advantage 15 minutes from time when Mario Mitrev sent a great shot from 20+ meters to turn the game around and give Brera the lead. But just three minutes later Nejazi Nuhija opened up space in the penalty area and equalized on 2:2.

The Skopje based team was left with 9 men in the 84th minute after a mix-up had previously occurred after a foul, and the most rebellious was captain Venis Enuz. The score remained tied until the end, so penalties had to decide the winner.

In the penalty shootout, the Strumica goalkeeper Aleksandar Trajkov put on a show when he saved the shots in the first and third series. Shkupi’s goalkeeper Sefer Musliu returned with a save in the fourth series, and previously in the third Brera hit the post. In the fifth series both shooters scored, so the shootout continued. Trajkov again read and saved excellently, while Bojan Velkov scored his shot for Brera’s final victory of 4:3 on penalties.

For Brera Strumica this triumph means a double title this season after they previously won the championship in the youth competition.

For Brera this is the 3rd Cup trophy in their 4th final appearance, while Shkupi suffered the 2nd final defeat and remains at 2 titles.

As a reminder, the senior team of this club was relegated from the first league after losing the play-off match against the second league side Skopje. The finalist Shkupi also suffered the same fate, their senior team finished last in the top flight and was relegated.

Training Center Petar Miloshevski field 1 in Novo Lisiche, Skopje
Brera Strumica – Shkupi 2:2 (1:1); 4:3 p.s.o.
Goals: 40′ Matej Sejmenov, 75′ Mario Mitrev – 2′ (pen) Sudejs Chajani, 78′ Nejazi Nuhija
Brera Strumica: Aleksandar Trajkov; Nikola Angelov (78′ Gligor Buchkov), Mario Mitrev, Andrej Dimovski, Igor Ristov , Gabriel Taleski, Matej Sejmenov (87′ Filip Kuleski), Ivan Shirikj (60′ Riste Milev), Gjorge Tanchev (c), Martin Gjorgiev (60′ Ivan Tanchev ), Bojan Velkov. Coach: Gjorge Stojchev
Shkupi: Sefer Musliu; Venis Enuz (c) , Almir Osmani (72′ Endrit Rustemi), Anes Bajrami, Omer Hasani , Shkeljkjim Ferati , Sudejs Chajani , Tarik Kerimi (86′ Arda Nuredin), Fisnik Ljamalari , Nejazi Nuhija, Kadri Bruti (49′ Bertan Kjerimi).
Referee: Dimitar Pileshkov (Shtip)
Red cards: 47′ Sudejs Chajani, 84′ Venis Enuz (Sh)