After the draw against Finland the Macedonia disappointed by loosing at home against Azerbaijan.
photo by FFM: Musliu fights for the ball against an Azeri player
Coach Blagoja Milevski made several changes compared to the last game against Finland. This time Damjan Shishkovski was on goal, captain Stefan Ristovski together with Nikola Serafimov, Visar Musliu and Stefan Ashkovski in defense, Boban Nikolov, David Babunski and Enis Bardhi were in midfield, Ljupcho Doriev and Elif Elmas on the wings, while Ilija Nestorovski was the CF.
In the 25th minute Bardhi opened the score with a penalty after Elmas was fouled in the box. The joy didn’t last long as Azerbaijan equalized in the 38th minute with a goal by Elvin Cəfərquliyev.
After the half-time break both teams continued with the same players. Seven minutes into the second half Boban Nikolov was sent off the pitch due to his second yellow card of the game.
In the 65th minute Musa Qurbanlı netted the 1:2 goal. Jani Atanasov and Valon Ethemi entered the game before and after the visitors lead Milevski introduced Dimoski, Dorian Babunski, Bejtulai and debutante Martin Mirchevski. Unfortunately it didn’t helped.
Azerbaijan was also down to ten players because Höccət Haqverd was sent off in the 75th minute, but Macedonia didn’t manage to equalize. The away team even scored another goal, this time in the 89th minute through Ramil Şeydayev.
Highlights:
This was this years last game for the Macedonian senior national team. In the end a disappointing year full of bad results and weak performances. The only bright light was the win against Italy. The coach has a lot of work to fix the problems, especially as a very tough group for the 2024 EURO qualifications is ahead of us.
Facts about the match:
- Martin Mirchevski is the 287th player to appear for Macedonia
- 13th goal for Enis Bardhi, 4th from the spot
- 1st defeat in 8th matches against Azerbaijan
- 1st sending off for Boban Nikolov