Come from behind win for Shkendija over HJK with a hat-trick by Ibraimi, while Rabotnichki earned a draw with an injury time penalty goal against Dinamo Minsk.

Shkendija – HJK 3:1 (1:1)
Goals: 45′ (pen), 59′, 63′ (pen) Besaert Ibraimi – 35′ Ousman Jallow
Shkendija: 1. Zahov; 16. Murati (25′ 13. Čeliković), 6. Cuculi, 4. Bejtulai, 77. Todorovski; 11. Vujčić, 5. Alimi (83′ 8. Totre); 18. Júnior, 10. Hasani (c), 14. Radeski (75′ 30. Avdyli); 7. Ibraimi.

Shkendija did not start the match well as HJK controlled the play, had the possession and even took the lead in the 35th minute through Gambian international Ousman Jallow. HJK had a free kick near the corner, Bejtulai reacted badly on the ball sending it towards his goal, it deflected from the post but Jallow simply headed into the net. That was the much needed wake call for Shkendija players to eventually start playing their way. The equalizer came in the last minute before the break. Radeski was clipped from behind in the box by Juha Pirinen and Besart Ibraimi succesfully converted the penalty kick. In the 25th minute Shkendija was forced to make a change as Murati got injured and Čeliković took his place.

Fourteen minutes into the second half and Shkendija turned over the result. A counter attack and a combination between Radeski, Hasani and Ibraimi lead to Ibraimi scoring his second. In the 63rd minute Shkendija extended the lead to 3:1. Ibraimi was running towards the goal chased by Hannu Patronen and Ville Jalasto with the first fouling him from behind. Second penalty and a direct red card for Patronen. Ibraimi for the second time beat Thomas Dähne from the spot and also celebrated a hat-trick.

With a player more everyone expected Shkendija to add more goals, but the game ended with the score of 3:1. Despite the conceded goal, it is a good result before the return leg in Finland next Thursday.

Rabotnichki – Dinamo Minsk 1:1 (0:0)
Goals: 90’+1 (pen) Bojan Najdenov – 53′ Uladzimir Khvashchynski
Rabotnichki: 25. Shishkovski; 6. Herrera, 4. Mitrev, 27. Raso, 22. Iliev (55′ 23. Bilali); 10. Najdenov,
24. Trajchevski (c), 8. Duranski (59′ 16. E. Sahiti); 11. Velinov, 15. Markoski, 7. S. Sahiti (67′ 17. Kadriu).

Unlike Shkendija, Rabotnichki failed to win. Without national team defender Vanche Shikov who parted for Tobol from Kazakhstan, Rabotnicki’s defence was weakened. They were better in the first half, had the possession, dominated the game and created few chances although the visitors from Belarus also threatened Shishkovski few times. In the very first minute Sahiti had a great chance to bring the lead, but somehow he managed not to control the ball well just few meters before the keeper.

The second half was different. The players of Rabotnichki got tired and Dinamo had the initiative. Althought the squads were obviously even on quality, the Dinamo players had better stamina and physical condition. After just 8 minutes of play Dinamo scored through Uladzimir Khvashchynski. Rabotnichki made all the changes in the next 15 minutes, but still the equalizer was missing. A big blow occured when one of the subs, Emir Sahiti, got a direct red card for a bad tackle on Nikola Leković in the 83rd minute. Eventually the visiting players also got tired, what gave Rabotnichki a chance to create some opportunities even with 10 men. One of them resulted in a penalty kick when Kadriu sent a ball in the box where Bilali was pulled by Nino Galović. Bojan Najdenov levelled the score with a great penalty kick.

Of course the 1:1 draw makes Dinamo to be in better position before the return leg next Thursday in Belarus. Rabotnichki still has chances, but they must score on the road.